EAR  L 
READE 

OBERN 


ULbB   LIbKARr 


LIBRARY 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

SANTA  BARBARA 


PRESENTED  BY 

GEORGE  OBERN 


XIII—  1 
X-S-T 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arcinive 

in  2007  witii  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


littp://www.arcliive.org/details/advertisingcampaOOmartiala 


Modern  Business 

A  Series  of  Texts 
prepared  as  part  of  the 

Modern  Business  Course  and  Service 


lUgutered  Trade  Mark 

Dnitsd  State*  and  Great  Britam 

Mana  Btgutrada,  M.  dt  F. 


Alexander  Hamilton  Institute 


Modern  Business  Texts 

Prepared  as  part  of  the 
Modern  Business  Course  and  Service 


1. 

Business  and  the  Man 

14. 

Corporation  Finance 

2. 

Economics 

15. 

Transportation 

The  Science  of  Business 

16. 

Foreign  Trade  and 

3. 

Business  Organization 

Shipping 

4. 

Plant  Management 

17. 

Banking 

5. 

Marketing  and 

18. 

International  Exchange 

Merchandising 

19. 

Insurance 

6. 

Salesmanship  and  Sales 

20. 

The  Stock  and  Produce 

Management 

Exchanges 

7. 

Advertising  Principles 

21. 

Accounting  Practice  and 

8. 

Office  Administration 

Auditing 

9. 

Accounting  Principles 

22. 

Financial  and  Business 

10. 

Credit  and  Collections 

Statements 

11. 

Business  Correspondence 

23. 

Investments 

12. 

Cost  Finding 

24. 

Business  and  the 

13. 

Advertising  Campaigns 

Government 

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF 

JOSEPH  FRENCH  JOHNSON 

EDITORS,    WRITERS    AND   CONSULTANTS 

[  See  list  on  page  V  of  Volume  1 3 


Advertising  Campaigns 


By 

Mac  Martin 

Lecturer,  University  of  Minnesota 


Modem  Business  Texts 

\OhXJUE  13 


Alexander  Hamilton  Institute 
New  York 


Copyright,  1917,  by  Alexander  Hamilton  Institute 

Copyright  in  Great  Britain,  1917,  by  Alexander  Hamilton  Institute 

All  rights  reserved,  including  translation  into  Scandinavian 

Latest  Revision,  1922 

Made  in  U.  S.  A. 


PREFACE 

In  the  Modern  Business  Texts  the  study  of  adver- 
tising is  divided  into  three  parts.  First,  in  the  Text 
on  "Marketing  and  Merchandising,"  there  is  a  com- 
plete presentation  of  the  things  that  have  to  be  con- 
sidered by  anyone  who  has  anything  to  market  before 
he  sends  out  his  salesmen  or  prepares  his  advertising. 
That  Text  treats  of  the  plan  behind  the  campaign. 
After  a  manufacturer  or  dealer  has  studied  the  things 
that  must  precede  any  selling  campaign — trade  rela- 
tions, the  product,  the  market  and  the  methods  of 
reaching  the  market — he  decides  to  use  either  personal 
salesmanship  or  advertising,  or  both,  to  sell  his  goods. 
The  Text  on  "Advertising  Principles"  shows  what 
advertising  can  do  for  his  business,  guides  him  in 
choosing  the  right  advertising  appeal  and  treats  of 
what  may  be  called  the  technique  of  advertising,  writ- 
ing the  copy,  preparing  the  illustrations  and  getting 
the  advertisement  before  the  public. 

There  is  much  more  to  advertising,  however,  than 
the  making  of  a  preliminary  study  and  the  writing 
of  advertisements.  The  advertiser  has  to  consider 
problems  of  organization,  methods  of  identifying  his 
goods,  his  relation  with  agencies,  the  selecting  of  me- 
diums, distribution,  dealer  cooperation  and  a  host  of 


vi  PREFACE 

other  things,  all  of  which  have  an  important  part  in 
the  complete  campaign.  The  present  Text  deals  with 
the  many  essential  parts  of  an  advertising  campaign 
which  have  not  been  considered  in  preceding  Texts  in 
the  Modern  Business  Series.  It  gathers  all  the  di- 
verse considerations  of  the  advertisers,  shows  their 
relation  one  to  another  and  binds  them  into  a  unified 
whole. 

Thruout  the  Text  the  point  of  view  is  chiefly  that 
of  the  manufacturer,  because  the  manufacturer's  ad- 
vertising campaign  is  inclusive  of  all  advertising 
problems — his  dealers'  as  well  as  his  own.  Most  of 
the  subjects  treated,  therefore,  will  be  of  interest  to 
the  dealer  as  well  as  to  the  manufacturer. 

Mac  Maktix. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  PURPOSE  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN 

8BCTI0N 

1.  The  Struggle  of  Business 

2.  The  Campaign  a  Modern  Development    . 

3.  Objects  of  Campaigns 

4.  The  Time  Required 

6.  Effect  of  the  Campaign  on  the  Advertiser 

6.  Effect  of  the  Campaign  on  Salesmen 

7.  Effect  of  the  Campaign  on  Dealers    . 

8.  Effect  of  the  Campaign  on  Consumers     . 

9.  Effect  of  the  Campaign  on  the  Product 

10.  The  Campaign  as  a  Great  Educator    . 

11.  Advertising  and  Selling  Expense   . 

12.  Campaigns  that  Cut  Manufacturers'  Costs 

13.  Campaigns  that  Have  Cut  Retailers'  Costs 

14.  Experience  the  Best  Guide 


1 

1 

2 

4 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

12 

13 

15 

15 

16 


CHAPTER  n 

ANALYSIS  OF  DEMAND  AND  COMPETITION 

1.  Preliminaries  of  the  Campaign 18 

2.  Developing  Demand 19 

3.  Educational  Campaigns 19 

4.  Diverting  Demand 20 

5.  Demand  and  tlie  Repeat  Element 22 

6.  Advertising  with  the  Season 24 

vU 


viii  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

SECTION  PAGE 

7.  Advertising  Against  the  Season 24) 

8.  Competition 25 

9.  Comparison  of  Good-Will 26 

10.  Comparison  of  Advertising 27 

11.  Studying  a  Competitor's  Folio w-Up     ....  28 

12.  Correcting  Errors  by  Studying  Competitors  .      .  29 

13.  Comparison  of  Sales  Policies 30 

14.  Comparison  of  Freight  Advantages      ....  31 

15.  Relative  Importance  of  Competitors    ....  31 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  ADVERTISING  APPROPRIATION 

1.  How  Much  to  Spend  for  Advertising  ....  34 

2.  The  Value  of  Records 34 

3.  Time  Required  to  Reduce  Selling  Cost  Per  Unit  .  35 

4.  When  Advertising  Begins  to  Bear  Fruic    ...  37 

5.  Basing  the  Appropriation  on  a  Specified  Amount 

Per  Unit  of  Expected  Sales 38 

6.  Basing  the  Appropriation  on  a  Certain  Amount 

Per  Possible  Purchaser 39 

7.  Basing  the  Appropriation  on  the  Amount  of  Capi- 

tal Available 40 

8.  Basing  the  Appropriation  on   Cost  Per  Inquiry 

and  Per  Sale 41 

9.  Basing  the  Appropriation  on  a  Proportion  of  the 

Profits  of  the  Previous  Year 42 

10.  Basing  the  Appropriation  on  Amount  Spent  the 

Previous  Year 43 

11.  Basing  the  Appropriation  on  the  Space  Desired  .      44 

12.  Basing  the  Appropriation  on  a  Certain  Per  Cent 

of  Gross  Sales 45 

13.  Retailers'  Appropriations 46 


CONTENTS 


IX 


14. 
15. 


Determining  the  Proper  Percentage 
Apportioning  the  Appropriation  . 


PAcn 

47 

49 


1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. 
8. 
9. 
10. 

11. 

12. 
13. 
14. 

15. 


1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 
7. 
8. 


CHAPTER  IV 

METHODS  OF  IDENTIFICATION 

Necessity  of  Identification 52 

Packages  Make  Advertising  Possible  ....  53 

Methods  of  Identifying  the  Product    ....  64 

Shape  as  a  Means  of  Identification      ....  64 

Color  as  a  Means  of  Identification      ....  55 

Methods  of  Identifying  the  Advertising    ...  56 

Names  and  Trade-Marks 68 

Typical  Characters 60 

When  Typical  Characters  Are  Inadvisable      .      .  62 

Advantages  of  a   Slogan 62 

Typographical  Means  of  Identification     ...  63 

Individual  Style  in  Illustrations  and  Copy  .  64 

T'niform  Colors 64 

Position  in  Publications  as  a  Means  of  Identifica- 
tion        64 

Relative  Value  of  Different  Methods  of  Identifica- 
tion        65 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  ADVERTISING  DEPARTMENT 
The  Director  of  the  Department 
Attributes  of  Advertising  Manager 
Responsibility  for  the  Advertising 
Functions  of  an  Advertising  Department 
Systems  of  Organization     .... 
A  Large  Advertising  Department  . 
Small  Advertising  Department 
Territorial  Advertising  Departments  . 


68 
69 

70 
71 
73 
74 

77 
78 


X  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

BSOnOIT  PAGB 

9.     Cooperation  with  Sales  Department     ....      79 

10.  Obtaining  First-Hand  Information  in  the  Field  .      81 

11.  The  Advertising  Department  and  the  Advertising 

Agency 82 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  ADVERTISING  AGENCY 

1.  What  an  Advertising  Agency  Is 84 

2.  What  an  Advertising  Agency  Does      ....  86 

3.  History  of  the  Advertising  Agency      ....  88 

4.  Publishers'  Representatives 90 

5.  Agency's  Service  to  Publisher 90 

6.  Agency's  Service  to  Advertisers 92 

7.  The  Outsider's  Viewpoint 94 

8.  How  Agencies  Are  Organized 94 

9.  How  an  Agency  Works 96 

10.  Obtaining  Information  for  the  Campaign      .      .  97 

11.  Planning  the  Campaign 98 

12.  Producing  the  Advertisements 100 

13.  Relation  of  Agency  to  Advertiser 101 

14.  The  Advertising  Agent's  Compensation      .      .      .  102 

15.  The  Meaning  of  "Recognition"      .      .      .      .      .  105 

16.  How  an  Agency  Secures  Recognition  .      .      .      .106 


CHAPTER  VII 
ADVERTISING  MEDIA 

1.  Place  of  the  Medium  in  the  Campaign 

2.  One  Medium  Alone  Seldom  Sufficient    . 

3.  Advertising  Media  Defined    . 

4.  How  Media  Are  Selected     .... 

5.  Circulation 

6.  Three  General  Classes  of  Media 


109 
110 
110 
111 
112 
114 


CONTENTS  xi 

SECTION  PAGE 

7.  Kinds  of  Direct  Media 115 

8.  Letters 115 

9.  Sampling  and  Demonstrating     .      .           ...  116 

10.  Booklets 116 

11.  Catalogs 117 

12.  House  Organs 118 

13.  Novelties • 119 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ADVERTISING  MEDIA  (Continued) 

1.  Periodicals 121 

2.  Newspapers 121 

3.  Magazines 122 

4.  Farm  Journals   .      .  123 

5.  Trade,  Technical  and  Class  Publications  .      .      .  124 

6.  Foreign  Language  Publications 125 

7.  Directories 125 

8.  Theater  Programs 126 

9.  Signs 126 

10.  Dealers'  Signs 127 

11.  Posters 127 

12.  Painted  Bulletins 128 

13.  Electric  Signs 129 

14.  Railway  Signs 130 

15.  Theater  Signs 131 

16.  Why  There  Are  Not  More  Media 132 

CHAPTER  IX 
WEIGHING  CIRCULATION 

1.  The  Value  of  an  Advertising  Medium  ....    134 

2.  Cost  Per  Possible  Purchaser 1.35 

3.  Discovering  the  Typical  Purchaser      ....    137 


xii  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

SECTION  PAGE 

4.  Geographical  Conditions 138 

5.  Social  Conditions 140 

6.  Circulation  Statements 142 

7.  History  of  Circulation  Statements      ....  144 

8.  Duplication  of  Circulation 145 

9.  Extent  of  Duplication 147 

10.  Subscription  Price  as  Barometer  of  Purchasing 

Power 148 

11.  The  Flat  Rate 150 

12.  Preferred  Position 150 

13.  When  to  Use  Preferred  Position 151 

CHAPTER  X 
WEIGHING  PRESTIGE 

1.  The  Meaning  of  Prestige    .      .      .      .      .      .      .153 

2.  Prestige  of  Direct  Media 153 

3.  Prestige  of  Signs 154 

4.  How  Prestige  Works 155 

5.  Factors  in  Prestige 156 

6.  Editorial  Policy 157 

7.  Circulation  Policy 158 

8.  Morning  and  Evening  Papers 158 

9.  Sales  and  Subscription  Magazines        .       .      .       .159 

10.  Advertising  Policy 160 

11.  Typical  Advertising  Policies 162 

CHAPTER  XI 
LETTERS  AND  DIRECT  ADVERTISING 

1.  Components  of  Direct  Advertising      .      .      .      .166 

2.  Advantages  of  ^lail  Campaigns 166 

3.  The  Uses  of  Direct  Advertising 168 

4.  Compiling  the  Mailing  List 169 


CONTENTS  xiii 

SECTION  _  PAOl 

5.  Getting  a  Correct  List 172 

6.  Keeping  Lists  Up-to-Date 173 

7.  Filing  the  Mailing  Cards 174 

8.  Sales  by  Mail 175 

9.  Raking  the  List 175 

10.  The  Trial  Campaign 176 

11.  Tests  of  FoUow-Up  Series 177 

12.  Taking  the  Average  of  a  Series 179 


CHAPTER  XII 

SAMPLING 

1.  Extent  of  Sampling 181 

2.  General  Classes  of  Sampling 182 

3.  Sampling  Thru  Distribution  by  Other  Manufac- 

turers        . 182 

4.  House-to-House  Sampling 182 

5.  Sampling  in  Public  Places 183 

6.  Sampling  Where  Representative  Groups  Are  Con- 

gregated      184 

7.  Demonstrating  in  Consumers'  Homes    ....  184 

8.  Lectures  and  Sampling 185 

9.  Sampling  in  Restaurants 185 

10.  Sampling  Influential  Groups 185 

11.  Sampling  Direct  by  Mail 186 

12.  Sampling  at  Factory  "House  Warmings"  .  187 

13.  Sampling  by  Using  Premiums 187 

14.  Sampling  Thru  Dealers 187 

15.  Sampling  with  Coupons 188 

16.  Samples  Free  with  Purchases 189 

17.  Sampling  in  Delivery  Packages 190 

18.  Sending  Samples  witli  Other  Goods     ....  190 

19.  Sampling  at  Demonstrations 190 

20.  Compensation  to  Cooperating  Dealers       .      .      .  191 


xiv                  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS  | 

CHAPTER  XIII  * 

"? 

HOW  PERIODICALS  ARE  USED  > 

SECTION                                                 _                                                          ^  ^^'^ 

1.  Place  of  Periodicals  in  the  Campaign  ....  19^ 

2.  Kinds  of  Newspaper  Advertising 194ji 

3.  How  Newspapers  Are  Used  by  Manufacturers      .  19^ 

4.  Size  of  Newspaper  Advertisements       ....  197i 

5.  Amount  of  Space  Used  in  Newspapers      .      .      .  199| 

6.  Use  of  Magazines 200^ 

7.  Use  of  Farm  Journals 202^ 

8.  Use  of  Trade,  Technical  and  Class  Publications  .  204 

9.  Use  of  Foreign  Language  Publications      .      .      .  20® 

10.  Use  of  Directories 207j 

11.  Size  of  Space  in  Periodicals 207; 

CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  USE  OF  SIGNS 

1.  Window  Trims 211 

2.  The  Window  Trim  and  National  Sales  Week  .      .  212i 

3.  The  Use  of  Counter  Display 213' 

4.  How  to  Get  Dealers  to  Use  Signs 214r, 

5.  Most  Profitable  Fields  for  Window  and  Counter  \ 

Display 216j 

6.  Cooperating  with  Dealers  in  Buying  Signs      .      .  217i 

7.  The  Use  of  Posters 219J 

8.  Use  of  Painted  Bulletins 220^ 

9.  Use  of  Street-Car  Cards 22l'] 

n 

10.     Parades  as  Advertising  Mediums 222| 

CHAPTER  XV       •  \ 

CAMPAIGNS  TO  OBTAIN  DISTRIBUTION  'i 

1.  Four  Kinds  of  Campaigns 225' 

2.  Should  Advertising  Precede  Distribution?       .       .  225' 

3.  Starting  on  a  Small  Scale 227j 


CONTENTS  XV 

SECTION  VAOt 

4.  A  Flour  Campaign 228 

5.  Distribution  for  an  Article  of  Limited  Consump- 

tion        231 

6.  Dangers  of  Overstocking 231 

7.  When  Distribution  Preceded  Advertising  .       .      .  232 

8.  Using  Established  Good-Will  to  Obtain  Distribu- 

tion         234 

CHAPTER  XVI 
CAMPAIGNS  TO  OBTAIN  DEALER  COOPERATION 

1.  Place  of  Dealer  in  the  Campaign 236 

2.  Three  Periods  of  Dealer  Cooperation  ....  237 

3.  Period  of  "Bluff  the  Dealer" 238 

4.  Period  of  "Help  the  Dealer" 238 

5.  The  Spirit  of  Sales  Cooperation     .'....  240 

6.  Influence  of  Quality  of  Goods 240 

7.  Profit  as  an  Inducement  to  Cooperate  ....  241 

8.  Importance  of  Quick  Stock  Turnovers      .      .      .  241 

9.  Educating  the  Dealer  and  His  Sales  People    .      .  241 

10.  Campaigns  to  Increase  the  Sales  of  Related  Prod- 

ucts        243 

11.  Three  Kinds  of  "Dealer  Helps" 244 

12.  Dealers'  Newspaper  Advertising 245 

13.  Advertisements  that  Represent  the  Dealer             .  246 

14.  Furnishing  Parts  of  Advertisements    ....  247 

15.  Assistance  in  Dealers'  Direct  Advertising  .      .      .  248 

16.  Manufacturers'  Consumer  Advertising      .      .      .  249 

17.  Dealers  Meet  Advertisers  Half-Way    ....  251 

CHAPTER  XVII 
MAIL-ORDER  CAMPAIGNS 

1.  Kinds  of  Mail-Order  Campaigns 253 

2.  The  Mail-Order  Specialty  Advertiser  ....  255 

XIII— a 


XVI 


ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 


SECTION 

3.  Requirements  of  Mail-Order  Specialty  House 

4.  Influence  of  Style  Centers 

5.  Costs  of  Mail-Order  Specialty  Advertising 

6.  Using  Records  in  Choosing  Media  . 

7.  Difficulties  of  Specialty  Mail-Order  Selling 

8.  Selling  by  Mail  to  Get  Distribution 

9.  Department  Store  Mail-Order  Campaigns 

10.  General  Mail-Order  Distributors   . 

11.  Mail-Order  Successes  and  Failures 


PAOB 

256 
257 
258 
259 
260 
262 
264 
265 
266 


1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 

i. 

8. 

9. 
10. 
11. 
12. 
13. 


1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

PUBLIC  SENTIMENT  CAMPAIGNS 

A  New  Use  of  Advertising     .  268 

The  Campaign  Versus  the  Press  Agent      .      .      .    268 
Political  Advertising  Campaigns    ,       .       .       .       .    270 

Advertising  for  Fair  Play 272 

Advertising  to  Win  Strikes 273 

Advertising  for  General  Good-Will      ....    274 
Cooperative  Public  Sentiment  Campaigns  .       .       .    275 

Advertising  a  Charity 275 

Cooperative  Campaigns  for  Specific  Industries      .    276 

Advertising  a  City 278 

Advertising  a  State 281 

Advertising  National  Needs 283 

Modern  National  Advertising 284 

CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  TRADER'S  CAMPAIGN 

Classes  of  Distributors 286 

Development  of  Jobber  Advertising      ....   286 
Jobber's  Gain  Thru  Advertising    .       .       .      .       .    288 

Media  for  the  Jobber .      .288 

Retailer's  Advertising 289 

What  Is  Advertising 289 


CONTENTS  xvii 

SKCTION  PAGB 

7.  An  Advertising  Policy 290 

8.  What  Makes  Poor  Copy 291 

9.  What  Makes  Good  Copy 292 

10.  Types  of  Retail  Advertising 29.3 

11.  Small  Store  Advertising -.      .  294 

12.  Choice  of  Media 294 

13.  Chain  Store  Advertising 295 

14.  Featuring  of  Price 296 

15.  Advertising  Methods 296 

16.  Department  Store  Advertising       .      .      .      .      .  297 

17.  Choice  of  Media :      .      .  297 

18.  Methods  of  Appeal 298 

CHAPTER  XX 

THE  CAMPAIGN  AS  A  WHOLE 

1.  Final  Problems  of  the  Advertiser 301 

2.  Changing  the  Plan  to  Bring  Results     ....    301 

3.  A  Selling  Plan  that  Was  Wrong 302 

4.  Adapting  Campaign  to  Local  Conditions  .      .      .    304 

5.  Unifying  the  Campaign 305 

6.  "Selling"  the  Advertising  to  the  Salesmen      .       .    306 

7.  "Selling**  the  Advertising  to  Dealers  .      .      .      .308 

8.  Putting  the  Organization  Behind  the  Cahipaign   .    309 

9.  Two  Fundamental  i&ws  of  Advertising      .      .       .310 

10.  The  Point  of  Diminishing  Returns  .       .       .311 

11.  Cumulative  Effect  of  Repetition 313 

12.  The  Family  Resemblance  of  Advertisements   .      .    315 

APPENDIX— CHARTS 

1.  Organization  of  an  Advertising  Agency     .      .      .319 

2.  An  Advertising  Campaign 320 

3.  Classification  of  Advertising  Media      ....    321 

Index 323 


ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  PURPOSE  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN 

1.  The  struggle  of  business. — The  word  campaign 
signifies  carefully  planned  and  carefully  coordinated 
effort.  Its  significance  in  war  and  in  business  is  the 
same.  The  advertising  campaign  includes  everything 
done  by  an  advertiser  to  promote  sales  thru  publicity, 
all  planned  in  advance,  and  every  part  is  designed  to 
fit  into  the  other  parts  so  that  there  will  be  no  con- 
flicting effort,  no  friction — simply  a  smoothly  running 
machine  directed  toward  the  goal  of  increased  sales. 

2.  The  campaign  a  modern  development. — The 
idea  of  uniting  all  the  advertising  of  an  organization 
into  a  strongly  centered  campaign  is  one  of  the  latest 
developments  of  modern  business.  Thirty  years  ago 
an  advertisement  was  an  advertisement.  It  was 
thought  of  as  nothing  more  than  a  brief  announce- 
ment on  paper.  Advertisements  were  seldom 
changed.  There  was  seldom  a  single  underlying 
tliought  drawing  together  all  parts  of  the  publicity  of 

a  business.     Today  we  find  remarkable  examples  of 

1 


2  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

unity.  While  there  is  more  variation  in  copy  and 
more  change  in  advertisements  than  there  used  to  be, 
the  same  purpose  and  the  same  ideas  run  thru  all 
the  publicity  of  an  advertiser.  We  find  advertisers 
creating  an  atmosphere  around  themselves  and  their 
goods  which  is  the  same  in  each  advertising  medium. 

A  typical  example  is  that  of  Cluett,  Peabody  and 
Company,  manufacturer  of  Arrow  Collars  and  Arrow 
Shirts.  The  style  of  lettering  used  for  the  words 
"Arrow  Collars"  is  the  same  in  all  advertisements. 
There  is  a  similarity  in  the  style  of  illustrations  and 
in  the  tone  of  the  copy.  This  is  noticeable  whether 
the  advertisement  appears  in  a  magazine,  on  a  street- 
car card,  or  on  a  window  display.  The  same  illustra- 
tions are  used  in  different  forms,  sometimes  with  a 
group  of  figures  and  sometimes  with  a  single  figure, 
in  street-car  cards,  posters,  window  cards,  and  in 
every  one  of  the  other  varied  forms  of  advertising 
which  the  company  uses.  There  is  a  unity  of  im- 
pression, a  unity  of  purpose.  Each  advertisement 
supports  its  fellows.  Each  is  a  part  of  a  complete 
campaign. 

3.  Objects  of  campaigns. — While  thirty  years  ago 
most  advertising  was  thought  of  merely  as  general 
publicity,  today  every  advertising  campaign  is  backed 
by  a  definite  purpose  for  the  accomplishment  of  a 
specific  object.  We  have  begun  to  know  why  we 
advertise.  Some  campaigns  are  purely  educational; 
others  are  purely  competitive. 

Occasionally  we  find  a  campaign  which  seems  to 


PURPOSE  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN  3 

have  no  close  relation  to  the  promotion  of  the  busi- 
ness of  the  advertiser.  The  Literary  Digest  spent 
thousands  of  dollars  in  full  page  advertisements  in  the 
leading  newspapers  of  the  country  to  raise  money  for 
the  starving  children  of  central  and  southeastern  Eu- 
rope. The  practical  man  asks:  "What  does  the 
Literary  Digest  get  out  of  it?"  The  Literary  Digest 
gets  a  valuable  list  of  possible  subscribers  and  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  prestige  thru  being  associated  with  a 
worthy  enterprise. 

A  manufacturer  of  tarred  roofing  conducts  an  ad- 
vertising campaign  for  the  sale  of  bird  houses  at  cost, 
and  one  asks,  "What  does  this  manufacturer  of  roof- 
ing obtain  by  such  advertising?"  While  he  obtains 
the  same  sort  of  prestige  secured  by  the  Literary 
Digest  in  his  bird  club  advertising,  he  also  has  the 
satisfaction  of  knowing  that  he  is  sampling  his  roof- 
ing, from  which  the  bird  boxes  are  made,  to  all  the 
individuals  purchasing  these  boxes. 

These  illustrations  demonstrate  the  truth  of  the  old 
adage  that  there  are  more  ways  than  one  to  kill  a  cat. 
In  each  case  there  was  a  specific  object  for  the  cam- 
paign, tho  at  first  glance  that  object  may  seem  to  have 
had  little  to  do  with  the  business  of  the  advertiser. 
The  motive  behind  the  effort  remains  in  the  back- 
ground. The  promotion  of  the  advertiser's  business 
was  no  less  attained  because  the  means  were  indirect. 

In  these  days  it  is  not  enough  to  advertise  just  for 
the  purpose  of  selling  goods.     The  merchandising 


4  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

plan  which  is  the  foundation  of  the  advertising  must 
first  be  carefully  studied.  This  will  determine  the 
purpose  of  the  campaign.  The  principal  object  of 
the  new  concern  may  be  to  obtain  distribution.  The 
object  of  the  old,  well-established  concern  may  be 
either  to  secure  more  dealer  cooperation  or  to  create 
more  consumer  demand.  An  advertising  campaign 
without  a  purpose  is  like  a  ship  without  a  destination. 

4.  The  time  required. — Altho  an  advertising  cam- 
paign ordinarily  is  planned  for  a  year,  it  should  be  ex- 
tended over  a  sufficient  length  of  time  to  enable  the 
advertiser  reasonably  to  expect  the  result  desired. 
Too  many  advertisers  become  discouraged  just  when 
they  are  on  the  point  of  succeeding. 

An  advertising  agent  was  asked  once  how  long  he 
thought  it  would  be  necessary  to  test  the  advantages 
of  advertising  for  a  particular  product.  Before  an- 
swering he  asked  the  advertiser,  "How  often  does  the 
same  consumer  buy  your  class  of  products?"  He  was 
told  the  consumer  reordered  every  three  to  six 
months;  He  pointed  out  to  the  prospective  client 
that  if  he  advertised  continuously  for  six  months  and 
secured  all  the  business  in  his  market,  he  would 
then  just  have  a  chance  to  catch  each  buyer  on  his 
next  order.  In  other  words,  if  each  buyer  were 
fully  convinced  by  the  advertising,  six  months  would 
only  allow  each  one  an  opportunity  to  purchase  once. 
The  advertising  campaign  was  started  on  the  six 
months'  basis.  At  the  end  of  four  months  the  ad- 
vertiser became  discouraged.     The  agent  reminded 


PURPOSE  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN  5 

his  client  of  his  estimate,  and  asked  the  privilege  of 
sending  a  letter  to  a  selected  list  of  the  advertiser's 
prospects.  With  this  letter  the  agent  sent  a  return 
postal,  on  which  one  of  the  questions  asked  was, 
"How  often  do  you  order  a  product  of  this  kindf 
The  return  postals  showed  that,  while  the  shortest 
time  was  three  months,  the  longest  was  three  years, 
and  the  average  was  eleven  and  one-quarter  months. 
Other  questions  asked  on  the  card  were:  "In  what 
quantities  do  you  order?"  and  "If  you  were  ordering 
today,  what  brand  would  you  specify?"  The  an- 
swers to  these  two  questions  indicated  a  volume  of 
business  that  would  have  been  equal  to  a  150  per  cent 
increase  in  the  advertiser's  annual  business  if  the 
buyers  had  been  in  a  position  to  order  at  that  time. 
Yet  the  advertiser  was  ready  to  admit  that  his  ad- 
vertising campaign  was  a  failure.  He  had  not  given 
the  advertising  time  to  show  results. 

5.  Effect  of  the  campaign  on  the  advertiser. — 
When  a  manufacturer  decides  seriously  to  undertake 
a  planned  advertising  campaign,  he  immediately 
changes  from  the  position  of  letting  himself  be  sold 
advertising  to  the  position  of  buying  advertising. 
Undoubtedly  the  greatest  waste  in  advertising  today 
is  indiscriminate  purchasing  of  space  and  of  materials. 
In  many  businesses  those  items  of  expense  which  can- 
not rightly  be  charged  to  production  or  distribution 
are  charged  to  the  advertising  department.  This  de- 
partment has  to  bear  the  burden,  for  example,  of 
donations  and  charitv  which  have  no  direct  relation  to 


6  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

advertising,  but  are  charged  to  it  because  the  adver- 
tising account  is  elastic.  When  one  lays  out  an  ad- 
vertising campaign,  he  plans  all  expenditures,  and 
nothing  can  creep  in  that  does  not  definitely  bear  on 
his  purpose.  A  campaign  is  something  tangible. 
The  advertiser  planning  a  campaign  begins  to  weigh 
values.  He  begins  to  establish  a  policy.  He  sends 
his  order  for  advertisements  in  certain  media  un- 
solicited, because,  from  the  data  he  has  before  him, 
he  feels  that  these  media  will  bring  him  the  greatest 
return  on  the  money  invested. 

A  certain  manufacturer  spent  $40,000  a  year  in 
advertising  without  any  definitely  planned  campaign. 
One  of  the  items  was  $5,000  for  flange  signs.  The 
reason  he  spent  $5,000  was  because  the  price  in  five 
thousand  lots  brought  the  sign  down  to  one  dollar 
each,  while,  if  he  had  purchased  in  one  thousand  lots, 
the  signs  would  have  cost  two  dollars  each.  When 
the  signs  had  been  in  the  manufacturer's  possession 
for  over  three  years,  his  salesmen  had  not  as  yet  been 
able  to  find  five  thousand  dealers  who  w^ould  use  them. 
Five  hundred  signs  could  have  been  purchased  for 
$1,250,  thus  saving  the  manufacturer  $3,750.  Such 
examples  of  waste  are  often  found  among  concerns 
having  no  definitely  outlined  advertising  campaigns. 

When  a  manufacturer  outlines  and  attempts  to 
conduct  an  advertising  campaign,  he  knows  exactly 
where  and  when  he  is  spending  his  money.  He  keeps 
accurate  record  of  the  returns.  He  begins  to  have 
greater  faith  in  advertising  as  the  returns  materialize. 


PURPOSE  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN  7 

He  begins  to  see  bigger  possibilities  in  his  business. 
He  learns  to  plan  ahead.  The  concern  which  defi- 
nitely lays  out  and  carries  forward  an  advertising 
campaign  has  made  its  first  step  toward  advertising 
success.  The  day  of  profit  in  hit-or-miss  advertising 
has  gone.  Without  the  campaign  there  is  little  chance 
for  success. 

6.  Effect  of  the  campaign  on  salesmen. — The  con- 
cern which  buys  its  advertising  space  on  the  hit-or- 
miss  basis,  has  no  opportunity  to  inspire  its  sales 
force  with  a  realization  of  what  it  is  doing.  Adver- 
tising makes  it  possible  for  salesmen  to  close  sales 
quickly.  Advertising  gives  salesmen  confidence.  A 
manufacturer  who  had  been  buying  advertising  by  the 
hit-or-miss  method  determined  on  a  definite  campaign 
for  the  sale  of  one  of  his  products,  and  at  a  convention 
at  the  beginning  of  the  season  outlined  the  campaign 
to  his  salesmen.  After  describing  the  campaign  and 
the  new  merchandising  plan  behind  the  advertising,  he 
asked  each  salesman  to  establish  his  own  quota  of 
sales  which  he  expected  to  make  during  the  year  with 
the  assistance  of  the  advertising.  To  the  manufac- 
turer's surprise  and  pleasure,  the  quotas  established 
by  the  salesmen  themselves  totaled  a  500  per  cent  in- 
crease in  his  business  on  the  article  advertised.  That 
the  salesmen  were  not  far  wrong  in  their  estimate  is 
indicated  by  the  result  at  thie  end  of  the  year,  which 
showed  an  actual  increase  of  625  per  cent.  This  ex- 
ample of  the  effect  of  the  campaign  on  the  salesmen 
is  especially  interesting  when  it  is  realized  that  the 


8  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

advertiser  spent  no  more  money  in  the  campaign  than 
he  had  spent  the  previous  year  under  the  hit-or-miss 
"buy  what  is  presented"  method. 

7.  Effect  of  the  campaign  on  dealers. — One  of  the 
first  questions  a  dealer  asks  a  salesman  is,  "What  as- 
surance will  I  have  of  consumer  demand?  Is  the 
article  going  to  be  advertised  and  how?"  The  old 
reply,  "Oh,  my  company  is  spending  a  large  amount 
of  money  in  advertising,"  is  no  longer  convincing. 
Dealers,  familiar  with  the  powerful  influence  of  adver- 
tising, wish  to  know  the  media  used,  the  amount  of 
;Space  contracted  for,  and  the  quality  of  the  adver- 
tisements themselves.  Without  a  definite  campaign 
laid  out  in  advance,  salesmen  are  unable  to  give  deal- 
ers this  information  And  on  this  ground  alone, 
dealers  often  refuse  to  stock  the  goods. 

When  the  campaign  is  laid  out  in  advance  and 
dealers  are  told  of  the  advertising,  when  and  where 
it  will  appear,  they  are  in  a  position  to  take  advantage 
of  the  advertising  of  the  manufacturer  to  call  the  at- 
tention of  the  public  to  the  fact  that  they  distribute 
the  article  advertised.  Many  dealers  are  willing  to 
spend  their  own  money  to  connect  their  stores  as  dis- 
tributing centers  with  national  advertising. 

Advertisers  often  arrange  special  advertising 
"drives"  for  limited  periods,  keeping  dealers  in- 
formed of  the  dates  of  these  special  efforts  in  the  cam- 
paign. During  the  "drives"  increased  space  may  be 
taken  in  the  national  magazines  and  also  in  the  news- 
papers   and   in    other   media,    in   specific    localities. 


PURPOSE  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN  9 

This  unusual  effort  encourages  dealers  to  mention  the 
advertised  article  in  their  own  newspaper  advertise- 
ments and  to  trim  their  windows  with  the  articles,  ad- 
vertised. Advertisers  are  beginning  to  learn  that 
they  cannot  expect  much  dealer  cooperation  with- 
out definite  campaigns  planned  well  in  advance, 
and  without  giving  notice  to  their  dealers  of  their 
plans. 

8.  Effect  of  the  campaign  on  conmimera. — The 
steady,  persistent  flow  of  the  river  wears  away  the 
rock.  Advertising  is  powerful,  but  the  power  of  ad- 
vertising must  be  used  as  the  suggestion  of  a  friend, 
not  as  the  command  of  a  superior  officer.  Most  of 
us  cannot  tell  what  particular  influence  first  induced 
us  to  buy  any  of  the  advertised  products  we  are  now 
using.  Many  people  use  Ivory  Soap  as  a  matter  of 
course.  They  cannot  tell  what  advertisement  per- 
suaded them  to  use  it  or  what  advertisement  persuaded 
their  parents  first  to  use  it.  They  somehow  feel, 
however,  that  when  they  are  using  it  they  are  using 
the  popular  soap,  the  pure  soap,  the  soap  which  it  is 
customar\'  to  use.  The  Procter  and  Gamble  Com- 
pany might  stop  advertising  for  a  time,  and  many  of 
us  would  still  continue  to  use  Ivory  Soap.  It  would 
not  be  long,  however,  before  the  standing  which  Ivory 
Soap  has  in  the  minds  of  many  people  today  would 
be  forgotten.  A  new  generation  would  spring  up 
unfamiliar  with  the  Ivory  Soap  advertising.  Com- 
petitors would  have  been  educating  this  generation  to 
demand  their  soaps,  and  in  time   (in  a  shorter  time 


\ 


10  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

than  most  of  us  realize)  another  soap  would  probably 
become  the  popular  favorite. 

Popularity  of  a  product  cannot  be  gained  by  spas- 
modic advertising.  Back  of  the  advertising  there 
must  be  a  plan;  there  must  be  a  purpose — a  unity  of 
purpose.  And  there  must  be  continuity.  The  pub- 
lic likes  to  purchase  the  popular  article.  The  public 
likes  to  know  why.  The  public  likes  to  be  constantly 
reminded.  Constant  repetition  is  a  great  aid  to  mem- 
ory. 

To  the  persistent  advertiser  the  public  gives  that 
intangible  yet  supremely  valuable  asset  known  as 
good-will.  The  good-will  of  a  business  is  like  the  char- 
acter of  an  individual.  Seemingly  it  may  be  as  firm 
as  the  rock  of  Gibraltar,  and  yet  it  may  be  entirely 
destroyed  in  a  day.  James  Pyle's  Pearline  was  ad- 
vertised persistently  from  1877  to  1907.  In  1904 
the  appropriation  amounted  to  $500,000.  In  1907, 
the  last  of  the  Pyle  family  had  died  and  the  business 
was  being  conducted  by  the  representatives  of  two 
estates.  It  was  felt  that  Pearline  was  sufficiently 
well  known  to  allow  the  company  to  discontinue  ad- 
vertising for  a  few  years.  The  experiment  proved 
fatal.  In  1914,  the  Procter  and  Gamble  Company 
bought  James  Pyle's  Pearline,  thus  saving  the  com- 
pany, it  is  said,  from  actual  bankruptcy. 

9.  Efect  of  the  campaign  on  the  product. — When 
one  is  in  the  limelight,  he  must  live  up  to  the  reputa- 
tion created  for  him,  or  expect  failure  more  quickly 
than  if  he  remained   in  the   shadow.     Advertising 


*         PURPOSE  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN  11 

creates  popularity  for  worthy  products  only.  Ad- 
vertising will  only  accelerate  the  failure  of  an  un- 
worthy product.  As  soon  as  a  manufacturer  puts  his 
name  on  his  product,  he  feels  an  added  personal  re- 
sponsibility for  its  quality.  Trade-marking  and  ad- 
vertising have,  perhaps,  done  more  to  improve  the 
quality  of  merchandise  than  any  other  influence,  not 
excepting  pure  food  laws  and  factory  regulations. 

Mr.  Myron  McMillan  of  the  J.  T.  McMillan  Com- 
pany, packers,  recalls  a  case  in  point.  When  he  first 
began  to  advertise  Paragon  Bacon,  he  chose  street- 
car cards  as  a  medium  so  that  he  might  be  able  to 
show  slices  of  bacon  in  the  actual  colors.  He  em- 
ployed a  noted  artist  to  paint  a  picture  of  his  bacon. 
The  proper  proportion  of  fat  and  lean  strips  made 
everyone's  mouth  water.  The  card  had  been  in  the 
street  car  but  a  few  days,  when,  on  talking  with  his 
superintendent,  Mr.  McMillan  learned  that  his  prod- 
uct did  not  look  like  the  picture  on  the  street-car  card. 
The  superintendent  said:  "Nobody  cuts  bacon  that 
way."  Mr.  McMillan  replied:  "I  advertised  this 
bacon  because  I  thought  it  was  the  finest  bacon  that 
could  be  made.  Here  I  find  in  my  own  packing  house 
a  man  who  knew  how  to  improve  the  quality  and  had 
not  told  me  of  it.  The  cards  are  in  the  street  cars,  and 
we  must  deliver  the  quality  represented.  I  don't 
care  what  it  costs;  as  long  as  we  are  advertising  this 
bacon  cut  to  waste,  if  necessary,  but  give  us  the  cut 
represented  in  the  pictures."  The  new  cutting  was 
so  popular  that  it  has  never  been  changed  to  this 


12  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

day,  and  the  J.  T.  McMillan  Company  finds  the  pub- 
lic is  perfectly  willing  to  pay  the  additional  price 
which  allows  the  packer  to  cut  to  waste  in  order  to 
present  the  perfect  slice. 

When  the  product  is  once  advertised,  the  wise 
manufacturer  realizes  that  it  must  always  be  kept  up 
to  standard  and  that  his  success  depends  on  keeping 
up  the  quality  rather  than  on  taking  advantage  of  a 
reputation  made  thru  advertising.  Improvement  in 
quality  gives  talking  points  for  advertisements. 
There  is  no  question  that  the  automobile  was  brought 
to  perfection  more  rapidly  thru  the  yearly  seeking 
of  manufacturers  for  new  talking  points  for  their 
advertisements  than  it  would  have  been  if  the  auto- 
mobile had  not  been  advertised. 

10.  The  campaign  as  a  great  educator. — Advertis- 
ing campaigns  have  educated  the  world  to  the  use  of 
the  automobile.  In  twenty  years  persistent,  care- 
fully planned  advertising  has  educated  the  nation  to 
the  use  of  porcelain  bath  tubs.  Advertising  cam- 
paigns have  explained  the  uses  of  new  inventions, 
have  described  new  discoveries,  have  pictured  new 
methods.  In  a  story  entitled:  "A  World  Without 
Advertising;"  prepared  for  the  Associated  Advertis- 
ing Clubs  of  the  World,  Mr.  Forrest  Crissey  makes 
the  following  interesting  prophecy : 

All  these  calamities  involved  in  A  World  Without  Ad- 
vertising are  small  and  scarcely  to  be  considered  when  com- 
pared with  the  blow  that  would  be  dealt  to  education  by  such 
a  holocaust  of  elimination.     Aside  from  the  common  school 


PURPOSE  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN  18 

system  of  the  United  States  advertising  is  undoubtedly  the 
greatest  educational  force  in  existence.  Perhaps  even  this 
exception  is  debatable  but  advertising  has  no  need  to  claim 
more  than  its  own  in  any  field  and  it  can  do  and  will  gladly 
do  for  the  common  schools  for  formal  education  far  more 
than  it  has  ever  been  asked  or  permitted  to  do. 

There  is  in  man  an  impulse  for  larger  living  that  is  the 
very  seed  of  progress.  The  individual,  the  community,  the 
nation  in  which  this  impulse  is  undeveloped,  faces  certain 
stagnation.  Nothing  else  stimulates  this  natural  hunger  for 
an  expanding  experience  in  every  rightful  direction  as  does 
advertising.  Always  it  prompts  man  to  move  forward,  to 
want  more  things,  better  things,  finer  things.  It  is  the 
official  advance  agent  of  Invention,  of  Science,  of  Art  and  of 
Education. 

11.  Advertising  and  selling  expense. — In  the  Text 
on  "Marketing  and  Merchandising"  a  chapter  is  de- 
voted to  the  consideration  of  the  effect  of  advertising 
on  the  seUing  price  of  the  thing  advertised.  This  is  so 
important  a  subject,  and  one  which  so  vitally  concerns 
the  future  of  advertising  and  the  attitude  of  the  public 
toward  all  pubhcity,  that  it  is  well  here  to  give  addi- 
tional illustrations  of  the  influence  of  advertising  on 
prices  and  to  review  the  arguments  which  definitely 
justify  advertising  as  a  legitimate,  economical,  and 
generally  beneficial  method  of  marketing. 

The  first  thing  an  advertising  campaign  is  expected 
to  accomplish  is  volume  of  sales.  In  obtaining  vol- 
ume the  advertiser  usually  finds  that  he  also  de- 
creases his  selling  cost  per  unit.  Suppose  you  and 
a  certain  competitor  are  each  making  annually  a  mil- 
lion boxes  of  your  products.     Assume  that  you  each 

XIII— 3 


14  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

have  been  doing  no  advertising,  but  have  sold  thru 
salesmen  alone,  and  your  salesmen  have  cost  you 
$100,000.  This  is  a  selling  cost  for  each  of  you  of 
ten  cents  a  box.  You  each  make  a  net  profit  of 
$50,000,  or  five  cents  a  box. 

Now  suppose  your  competitor  decides  to  put  forth 
an  extra  effort  to  increase  his  volume  and  to  popular- 
ize his  brand  by  advertising.  A  salesman  can  take 
an  order  for  ten  dozens  just  as  easily  as  he  can  for 
one-twelfth  of  a  dozen  if  the  demand  has  been  created. 
One  of  the  purposes  of  advertising  is  to  create  de- 
mand. 

Suppose  that  next  year,  or  the  year  after,  your, 
competitor  appropriates  $100,000  for  advertising, 
making  his  total  selhng  expense  $200,000.  But  in 
doing  this,  the  advertising  so  increases  his  volume  of 
sales  that  he  is  able  to  dispose  of  4,000,000  boxes.  If 
it  costs  him  $200,000  to  sell  4,000,000  boxes,  his  sell- 
ing cost  is  now  five  cents  a  box,  while  yours,  without 
advertising  is  still  ten  cents.  He  not  only  makes 
four  times  the  gross  profit  that  you  make,  because  he 
sells  four  time?  as  much,  but  he  makes  another  profit 
of  five  cents  for  every  box  sold,  because  he  can  sell 
a  box  at  half  what  it  cost  you  to  sell  one. 

How  will  this  affect  you?  You  may  not  notice 
the  effect  while  times  are  good  and  you  and  your  com- 
petitor maintain  the  same  price.  But  let  a  crisis 
come,  or  let  your  competitor  see  that  he  can  increase 
his  volume  of  business  still  further  by  lowering  his 
price  to  the  consumer,  and  he  can  practically  put  you 


PURPOSE  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN  16 

out  of  business  any  time  he  wants  to.  He  holds  you 
in  the  hollow  of  his  hand.  You  are  beaten  any  time 
he  says  the  word.  Thru  advertising  he  has  cut  his 
cost  to  a  place  where  he  can  make  a  good  profit  and 
still  sell  at  a  price  below  your  actual  cost. 

12.  Campaigns  that  cut  manufacturers*  costs. — 
When  Hart,  Schaffner  &  Marx  began  to  advertise,  the 
house  was  doing  an  annual  business  of  $1,500,000. 
Ten  years  later  this  had  increased  to  $15,000,000. 
An  interesting  comparison  of  selling  costs  and 
amounts  spent  for  magazine  advertising  by  four 
ready-to-wear  clothing  manufacturers  was  compiled 
by  Printers*  Ink  about  the  time  Hart,  Schaffner  & 
Marx  reached  the  fifteen  million  mark.  The  selling 
costs  include  cost  of  salesmen  only,  the  percentages  are 
based  on  total  sales. 

Magazine  Selling 

Advertising  Cost 

Hart,  Schaffner  &  Marx $85,000  234  to  3% 

B.  Kuppenhcimer  &  Co 49,000  4% 

Samuel  VV.  Peck  &  Co 29,000  ^% 

Alfred  Benjamin 24,000  7% 

13.  Campaigns  that  have  cut  retailers*  costs. — Re- 
tailers are  not  slow  to  realize  that  this  same  power 
which  cuts  manufacturers'  costs  will  also  cut  their 
costs.  By  spending  a  sufficient  amount  in  advertis- 
ing they  can  so  increase  their  volume  of  business  that, 
while  the  gross  profit  of  each  item  may  be  decreased, 
the  net  profit  will  increase. 

The  following  figures  are  taken  from  records  of  the 


16  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

actual  experiences  of  one  of  the  retail  distributors  of 
Hart,  Schaffner  &  Marx  clothing  company. 

First  Half    Second  Half 

1918  1918  1919 

Percentage  of  advertising  appropria- 
tion to  sales  of  previous  period 2.40%  6.35%  9.46% 

Percentage  of  sales  of  current  period 

to  sales  of  previous  period 63.78%  126.40%         197.80% 

Percentage  of  advertising  expenditure 
of  current  period  to  sales  of  current 
period    3.77%  5.00%  4.78% 

Gross  Profit 41.40%  38.60%  37.70% 

Net  Profit 4.81%  8.24%  11.02% 

14.  Eocperience  the  best  guide. — Advertising  is  a 
subject  which  is  very  much  alive.  It  has  few  tradi- 
tions, and  only  a  slowly  growing  body  of  principles. 
Two  advertising  experts  may  recommend  entirely  dif- 
ferent solutions  of  the  same  advertising  problem,  and 
both  of  the  solutions  may  be  right.  Two  campaigns, 
to  accomplish  the  same  thing,  have  often  been  con- 
ducted in  entirely  different  ways,  both  proving  suc- 
cessful. Because  of  this  plastic  state  of  the  art  of  ad- 
vertising— because  the  one  best  campaign  for  a  given 
advertiser  must  still  be  partly  a  matter  of  opinion — it 
is  impossible  to  lay  down  a  set  of  hard  and  fast  rules 
for  the  planning  of  advertising  campaigns.  And  yet 
certain  general  principles  have  been  developed  from 
experience.  The  advertising  world  has  begun  to 
compare  experiences,  and  to  find  that  in  planning  a 
campaign  the  advertiser  or  his  agent  usually  asks  him- 
self certain  fundamental  questions  which  must  be 
adequately  answered  before  any  campaign  can  be 
properly  launched.     It  is  our  purpose  in  the  follow- 


PURPOSE  OF  THE  CAMPAIGN  17 

» 

ing  chapters  to  outline  some  of  these  questions  and 
to  tell  how  the  answers  to  them  have  affected  the  re- 
sults of  actual  campaigns.  We  are  to  give  the  rec- 
ords of  tangible  results,  rather  than  the  opinions  of 
individuals.  The  reader  will  be  expected  to  draw 
his  own  conclusions  as  to  how  the  basic  questions 
should  be  answered  in  planning  a  campaign  for  the 
business  in  which  he  is  most  interested. 

REVIEW 

Why  is  a  planned  campaign  preferable  to  intermittent  adver- 
tising ? 

What  are  some  of  the  things  to  be  done  in  obtaining  unity  in  an 
advertising  campaign? 

What  effect  does  volume  of  sales  have  on  selling  expense? 
What  is  the  relation  of  advertising  to  volume  and  expense? 

Do  people  like  to  buy  advertised  goods  ?     Why  ? 

Why  is  it  dangerous  to  advertise  a  product  unless  it  is  of  high 
and  stable  quality? 

Can  you  think  of  any  commodity  besides  automobiles  which 
has  been  perfected  largely  because  of  advertising? 


CHAPTER  II 

ANALYSIS  OF  DEMAND  AND  COMPETITION 

1.  Preliminaries  of  the  campaign. — Advertising  is 
costly,  and  frequently  considerable  time  must  elapse 
before  returns  can  reasonably  be  expected  from  the 
investment.  The  advertiser  who  would  avoid  expen- 
sive and  ruinous  mistakes  should  know  definitely  in 
advance  just  what  he  plans  to  accomplish  and  what 
obstacles  are  to  be  overcome  in  so  doing.  When  ad- 
vertising was  regarded  rather  as  a  gamble  than  an 
investment  there  were  few  preliminary  investigations 
before  campaigns  were  launched.  Even  today  ad- 
vertising in  the  dark  is  not  unknown.  Stories  are  told 
of  concerns  which  have  conducted  newspaper  cam- 
paigns to  sell  electric  toasters  and  electric  flat  irons 
in  cities  not  equipped  with  electric  light  and  power. 

The  importance  of  investigation  before  the  formu- 
lation of  selling  plans  and  policies  has  been  clearly 
set  forth  in  the  Modern  Business  Text  on  "Market- 
ing and  Merchandising."  The  product  must  be  care- 
fully tested.  Its  selling  points  must  be  listed.  Trade 
channels  must  be  selected.  Competition  must  be 
reckoned  with.  Problems  of  the  trade-mark  and  the 
package  must  be  solved. 

18 


DEMAND  AND  COMPETITION  19 

These  are  only  a  few  of  the  matters  to  be  consid- 
ered in  an  exhaustive  analysis  that  should  be  under- 
taken to  determine  the  whole  sales  policy  and  the 
marketing  campaign,  whether  thru  salesmen  or  thru 
advertising  or  thru  a  combination  of  the  two.  Many 
of  these  matters  have  received  attention  in  the  earlier 
volumes  of  the  Text.  At  this  point  the  reader  is 
asked  to  consider  those  which  present  special  prob- 
lems for  the  advertiser.  Questions  now  to  be  consid- 
ered group  themselves  chiefly  about  the  analysis  of 
possible  demand  and  the  analysis  of  competition. 

2.  Developing  demand. — In  whatever  manner  the 
sales  policy  may  associate  personal  salesmanship  and 
advertising,  the  immediate  object  of  the  latter  is  to 
develop  a  demand  for  the  advertised  product.  Ac- 
cording to  circumstances  the  problem  of  the  adver- 
tiser may  be  (1)  to  create  a  demand  for  an  article 
which  is  familiar  to  the  public;  (2)  to  extend  the  use 
of  an  article  already  known,  or  (3)  to  attract  to  the 
particular  product  advertised  a  part  of  the  demand 
which  already  exists.  Of  course  it  must  be  under- 
stood that  demand  is  not  limited  and  is  in  most  cases 
susceptible  of  expansion  so  that  the  second  and  third 
aspects  of  demand  creation  tend  to  merge  into  one 
another. 

8.  Educational  campaigns. — When  the  article  is 
entirely  new  the  advertiser  must  incur  a  large  ex- 
pense in  what  he  terms  educational  effort.  He  must 
familiarize  the  buying  public  with  the  uses  of  the 
article  and  the  service  which  it  can  render  to  the  buyer. 


20  ADVERTISING    CAMPAIGNS 

Most  of  us  can  recall  when  such  articles  as  Dicta- 
phones, Thermos  bottles,  cash  registers  and  washing 
machines  were  distinct  novelties.  That  they  are  no 
longer  such  is  due  in  large  part  to  persistent  adver- 
tising. 

Scarcely  less  will  be  the  necessary  outlay  when  the 
advertiser  seeks  to  extend  the  use  of  a  product  by 
bringing  what  has  been  deemed  a  luxury  into  the  cate- 
gory of  necessities.  Ten  years  ago  automobile  manu- 
facturers featured  the  convenience  of  the  automobile 
to  the  physician,  who,  by  using  it,  could  make  his  ordi- 
nary calls  quickly,  and  its  necessity  in  urgent  calls  in 
which  a  life  was  in  danger  and  the  old  fashioned  buggy 
too  slow.  They  showed  how  the  automobile  enabled 
the  business  man  to  make  more  money  in  his  business 
and  get  his  family  out  in  the  open  air.  Such  adver- 
tising effort  has  made  the  automobile  a  necessity  to 
one-fifth  of  the  families  of  the  United  States.  The 
Curtiss  Company  and  Glen  Martin  in  advertising 
airplanes  are  now  educating  the  public  along  the 
same  line.  Instead  of  talking  about  the  airplane  as 
a  luxury  for  touring  travel  or  of  emphasizing  the 
mechanical  difference  between  their  planes  they  show 
the  advantages  of  a  plane  to  a  business  man  in  saving 
time  and  expense  in  traveling  to  keep  most  important 
engagements. 

Thru  such  painstaking  analysis  of  the  possible  de- 
mand advertisers  not  only  build  up  business  but  lead 
the  world  to  require  the  highest  standards  of  living. 

4.  Diverting  demand. — If,  on  the  other  hand,  the 


DEMAND  AND  COMPETITION  21 

article  is  simply  a  new  brand  of  a  class  of  goods  al- 
ready on  the  market,  the  advertiser  must  focus  his 
attention  upon  plans  to  attract  to  his  own  product 
patronage  which  has  perhaps  heretofore  gone  to  com- 
peting brands.  He  must  show  why  his  product  is 
superior  in  quality.  He  may  emphasize  its  lower 
price,  but  he  always  seeks  by  persistent  repetition  to 
associate  his  particular  brand  with  the  species  of  arti- 
cles to  which  it  belongs.  Many  of  us  have  to  think 
twice  to  recall  that  there  are  corn  flakes  other  than 
Kellogg's,  or  rubber  heels  other  than  O' Sullivan's. 
Again,  the  advertiser  may,  by  putting  his  brand  on 
the  tip  of  everyone's  tongue,  induce  people  from  idle 
curiosity  to  compare  his  much  vaunted  goods  with 
other  brands  with  which  they  are  already  satisfied. 
Nevertheless,  the  chief  purpose  of  the  advertiser  in 
these  cases  is  permanently  to  divert  a  demand  already 
existing. 

Of  course,  no  business  organization  need  subsist 
entirely  upon  diverted  demand;  the  possibility  of 
developing  new  demand  always  exists.  Tho  candles 
are  an  age-old  product,  a  new  candle  industry  might 
conceivably  depend  largely  upon  developed  demand. 
In  its  advertising  the  new  industry  might  contrast 
the  fierce,  glaring  light  of  electric  bulbs  with  the  mel- 
low, golden  glow  of  the  candle  till  in  the  end  no  host- 
ess would  regard  her  dinner  table  complete  without 
its  array  of  candles.  Spaghetti,  a  household  article 
for  centuries,  may  thru  energetic  advertising  assume 
as  large  a  place  on  the  American  menu  as  that  which 


22  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

it  now  occupies  in  Italy.  Rice  might  be  pushed 
to  the  place  it  occupies  in  oriental  lands.  A  few 
years  ago  a  number  of  toilet  soap  companies 
sought,  by  combining,  to  save  the  advertising  ex- 
pense which  they  believed  had  previously  served 
merely  to  divert  demand  from  one  to  another  of  the 
companies.  When  the  companies  curtailed  their  ad- 
vertising, the  demand  for  toilet  soaps  dwindled  seri- 
ously. 

5.  Demand  and  the  repeat  element. — In  investi- 
gating the  yearly  demand  for  any  product,  it  is  im- 
portant to  consider  how  much  time  will  elapse  before 
a  satisfied  customer  will  come  back  for  more.  Is 
the  product  of  such  a  nature  that  but  one  sale  can  be 
made  to  a  customer  during  his  lifetime,  or  will  he  buy 
once  a  year,  once  a  month,  or  once  each  week?  Is 
the  product  a  fad  or  novelty? 

Failing  to  study  the  demand  in  advance,  one  might 
get  well  under  way  in  a  campaign  and  then  suddenly 
discover  that  every  person  in  the  territory  who  cared 
to  buy  had  purchased  and  that  further  sales  must 
wait  for  a  new  generation.  Not  infrequently  it  costs 
more  than  the  selling  price  to  gain  the  confidence  of 
a  customer.  In  most  businesses  the  profit  is  in  the 
reorder.  The  business  which  will  have  a  new  market 
of  already-convinced  customers  every  six  months  may 
need  a  different  advertising  policy  from  the  one  that 
must  wait  a  year  for  repeat  orders. 

In  utilizing  this  repeat  element,  great  ingenuity 
has  sometimes  been  employed.     One  method  success- 


DEMAND  AND  COMPETITION  23 

fully  used  is  that  of  a  "family  of  products."  The 
world  was  made  familiar  with  Quaker  Oats,  and  read- 
ily accepted  Quaker  Puffed  Rice  and  Quaker  Puffed 
Wheat.  Every  one  knows  the  "57  Varieties,"  now 
increased  to  a  yet  greater  number.  After  a  reputa- 
tion for  one  product  has  been  established,  it  is  easier 
to  create  a  demand  for  another  product  under  the 
same  family  name  than  to  start  with  an  entirely  new 
name  and  make  a  reputation  for  it.  The  manufac- 
turer of  a  group  of  products  of  common  characteris- 
tics bound  together  by  a  common  name  can  offset  the 
lack  of  "repeat"  in  the  individual  members  of  his  line 
by  the  demand  he  can  create  for  other  members. 

In  some  cases  the  "family"  is  small  and  its  mem- 
bers have  quite  a  close  resemblance  one  with  another, 
while  in  other  cases  the  family  has  grown  so  large  that 
only  the  name  appears  to  hold  it  together.  Under 
such  talismanic  names  as  Armour's  and  Beechnut  we 
find  grouped  products  as  diverse  as  lard  and  grape 
juice,  bacon  and  chewing  gum.  None  the  less  the 
advertising  effort  spent  upon  one  member  of  the  fam- 
ily accrues  to  the  advantage  of  all  that  bear  the  name. 

It  was  felt  that  advertising  without  a  record  of 
success  to  feature  would  be  unprofitable.  The  fact 
that  National  Cash  Registers  were  not  advertised  at 
first  may  have  been  quite  as  nmch  the  result  of  such 
a  policy  as  of  the  influence  of  convention  in  the  days 
when  advertising  was  less  common. 

Evidently  there  is  a  time  as  well  as  a  place  for  ad- 
vertising. 


24  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

6»  Advertising  with  the  season. — Time  figures 
strategically  in  the  development  of  demand  for  that 
immense  class  of  goods  subject  more  or  less  to  sea- 
sons. For  advertisers  of  goods  of  this  class  sold  thru 
dealers,  the  dealers'  season  figures  as  prominently  as 
the  consumers'  season.  These  seasons  are  identical 
for  some  products — automobiles,  for  example.  For 
others,  such  as  wearing  apparel,  six  months  or  more 
may  elapse  between  two  seasons.  Knowing  this,  the 
advertising  man  plans  accordingly.  His  "dealer 
literature"  and  his  "consumer  literature"  he  pre- 
pares at  the  same  time,  with  a  view  to  showing  the 
dealer  reproductions  of  the  consumer  literature  to  fol- 
low. The  salesmen  in  visiting  the  dealers  use  this  to 
advantage.  In  some  cases  their  whole  selling  talk 
wisely  centres  about  what  the  manufacturer  plans  to 
do  to  develop  consumer  demand. 

7.  Advertising  against  the  season. — Manufactur- 
ers and  dealers  are  beginning  to  question  whether  in 
certain  cases  there  is  any  real  reason  for  a  seasonal 
demand.  They  seek  thru  advertising  to  overcome 
slack  seasons,  using  advertising  in  an  attempt  to  do 
what  electricians  call  "superimposing  the  peak  upon 
the  valley."  That  is,  they  are  trying  to  raise  the  sale 
in  the  dull  season,  and  lower  it,  if  necessary,  in  the 
good  season,  to  make  a  more  even  output  the  j^ear 
round.  Thru  advertising  California  is  selling  walnuts 
in  summer  and  lemons  in  winter,  when  before  there 
was  practically  no  sale  for  these  products  in  these 
seasons.  Advertising  makes  business  grow  in  seasons 
that  without  it  would  be  dull. 


DEMAND  AND  COMPETITION  25 

8.  Competition. — It  is  not  enough  for  the  manu- 
facturer to  study  the  possible  demand  for  his  prod- 
uct. He  should  know  as  accurately  as  possible  what 
others,  his  competitors,  are  doing  to  satisfy  that  de- 
mand. Such  knowledge  if  reliable  and  accurate  is 
useful  not  only  in  advertising  but,  as  explained  in  the 
^lodern  Business  Text  on  "Marketing  and  Merchan- 
dising", in  determining  the  entire  sales  policy. 

Much  that  passes  for  information  concerning  what 
competitors  are  doing  is  mere  gossip  and  practically 
worthless.  It  is  difficult  to  obtain  reliable  informa- 
tion about  one's  competitors,  but  that  should  not  de- 
ter one  from  spending  time  and  money  to  secure  defi- 
nite information  so  far  as  possible  concerning  them. 
Of  course  if  the  purpose  of  seeking  this  information 
is  blindly  to  copy  others  in  advertising  and  other 
policies  it  is  so  much  time  and  money  wasted.  Con- 
structive business  policies  may  be  built  upon  research 
but  not  on  imitation. 

Too  many  manufacturers  are  prone  to  sweep  aside 
the  question  of  competition  with  the  egotistical  re- 
mark "We  have  no  competitors."  This  no  doubt 
would  be  important  if  true,  but  it  is  rarely  true.  If 
true,  it  does  not  follow  that  the  advertising  should  be 
wholly  of  the  constructive  and  educational  type  rather 
than  purely  competitive.  But  the  remark  is  seldom 
true  since  the  fact  that  another  concern  may  make  an 
article  inferior  in  quality  to  yours,  or  one  that  is  sold 
at  a  different  price,  is  no  proof  that  it  does  not  com- 
pete with  yours  on  the  market.     The  wise  advertiser 


26  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

will  study  his  competing  products  and  their  selling 
points  just  as  carefully  as  he  does  his  own. 

9.  Comparison  of  good-will. — One  should  ascer- 
tain as  nearly  as  possible  the  amount  of  advertising 
which  each  competitor  has  done  and  the  amount  of 
good-will  which  each  has  obtained  thru  his  advertis- 
ing and  thru  the  satisfaction  which  his  products  have 
given. 

A  manufacturer  whose  plant  is  estimated  to  be 
worth  about  two  million  dollars  recently  remarked: 
"If  I  were  forced  to  choose  between  sacrificing  my 
plant  and  the  good-will  which  this  company  has  es- 
tablished thru  continuous  advertising  for  the  last 
twenty  years,  I  should  willingly  say,  'Burn  down  the 
plant.  I  can  obtain  capital  to  rebuild  it  tomorrow, 
because  our  advertising  has  created  a  demand  which 
has  a  bankable  value  and  will  bring  new  capital.' 
This  is  our  strongest  bulwark  against  competition. 
A  new  plant  can  be  built  in  ninety  days.  But  our  ad- 
vertising has  taken  years,  and  no  amount  of  capital 
could  substitute  for  the  impression  it  has  made."  It 
is  important,  therefore,  that  the  advertiser  determine 
how  long  each  competitor  has  been  established  and 
how  long  each  has  been  advertising  continuously. 

Merely  a  list  of  the  advertising  schedules  of  one's 
competitors,  however,  will  not  necessarily  provide  a 
basis  for  an  estimate  of  the  good-will  each  enjoys. 
One  should  learn  of  the  friendships  which  competi- 
tors have  established  with  the  trade  and  with  consum- 
ers, together  with  the  methods  employed  to  obtain 


.  DEMAND  AND  COMPETITION  27 

these  friendships.  Only  in  this  way  can  the  new  ad- 
vertiser intelligently  lay  plans  for  the  building  up 
of  good-will  for  his  own  name  and  for  his  own  prod- 
ucts. 

10.  Comparison  of  advertising. — It  is  well  to  have 
a  scrap-book  and  to  keep  in  it  copies  of  the  advertise- 
ments of  competitors.  There  is  no  particular  advan- 
tage in  referring  to  it  daily  but,  at  the  end  of  the 
year,  by  comparing  it  with  the  records  of  your  own 
sales  and  those  of  your  competitors  you  will  have  a 
basis  for  judging  the  value  of  competing  advertising 
which  is  far  better  than  mere  opinion  or  hearsay. 

In  planning  a  campaign  it  is  always  advisable  to 
list  the  publications  in  which  each  competitor  has  ad- 
vertised and  to  find  out  how  much  each  publication 
has  been  used.  In  active  competition  a  manufacturer 
always  tries  to  reach  the  same  buyers  that  his  competi- 
tors are  reaching.  Do  not  jump  at  the  conclusion, 
iiowever,  that  just  because  a  competitor  is  using  cer- 
tain publications  his  investment  is  proving  profitable. 
An  advertising  agency  recently  planned  a  national 
campaign  for  a  manufacturer  who  at  first  insisted  on 
using  every  medium  his  principal  competitor  was 
using.  The  agent  found  that  in  many  publications 
the  competitor  had  contracts  for  but  one  insertion, 
and,  from  the  nature  of  the  product  and  the  medium, 
the  agent  was  certain  the  competitor  lost  money.  On 
more  thoro  investigation,  the  agent  found  that  the 
competitor  was  simply  a  plunger  and  that  he  had  no 
plans  or  records  to  guide  him  in  his  advertising.     He 


28  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

found,  however,  that  another,  a  much  younger  and 
smaller  competitor,  kept  very  careful  records  of  re- 
turns. The  advertising  schedule  of  the  small  com- 
petitor proved  to  be  a  much  better  guide  for  the  new 
advertiser  than  the  list  of  media  used  by  the  larger 
and  more  important  manufacturer. 

A  large  western  paint  house  recently  decided  to  ad- 
vertise in  farm  journals.  It  wanted  to  dominate  the 
field.  Fourteen  competitors  had  been  using  fai-m 
journals  for  many  years.  The  paint  manufacturer 
asked  his  advertising  agent  to  obtain  for  him  sched- 
ules of  the  advertising  of  all  his  competitors  for  the 
five  years  previous.  These  schedules  showed  that  all 
the  competitors  began  to  advertise  in  the  first  weeks 
of  February.  So  he  ordered  his  advertising  to  com- 
mence the  middle  of  January.  He  also  made  his  ad- 
vertisements a  little  larger  in  size  than  those  of  any 
of  his  competitors.  By  making  a  careful  investiga- 
tion and  by  doing  the  things  to  which  a  study  of  com- 
peting advertising  logically  pointed,  he  was  able  to 
dominate  his  field  from  the  beginning. 

11.  Studying  a  competitor's  follow-up. — A  com- 
mon method  of  keeping  track  of  competitive  adver- 
tising consists  simply  in  responding  to  a  competitor's 
advertising  and  in  keeping  accurate  record  of  the  way 
in  which  the  competitor  answers  and  follows  up  the 
inquiry.  The  inquiry  is  usually  made  in  the  name  of 
some  one  who  might  be  considered  a  possible  pur- 
chaser. As  each  letter  or  piece  of  literature  comes  in, 
it  is  dated  and  compared  for  appearance,  quality,  and 


DEMAND  AND  COMPETITION  29 

the  impression  it  creates  with  other  literature  received 
from  other  competitors.  By  this  method  an  adver- 
tiser is  able  to  learn  the  following  facts  in  relation  to 
competition : 

a.  How  promptly  inquiries  are  answered. 

b.  How  many  pieces  of  literature  are  sent  to  each 
prospect. 

c.  The  quality  of  letters  used — whether  all  in- 
quiries are  answered  with  personal  letters,  multi- 
graphed  letters  or  printed  literature. 

d.  The  cost  of  a  competitor's  follow-up.  This  can 
be  roughly  estimated  by  adding  the  cost  of  postage  to 
the  probable  cost  of  the  letters  and  the  other  adver- 
tising literature  that  is  received. 

e.  The  relative  emphasis  given  to  each  sales  argu- 
ment. This  is  an  interesting  test.  A  complete  set  of 
each  competitor's  literature  is  taken  and  the  sales  ar- 
guments of  each  listed.  Then  a  record  is  made  of  the 
proportion  of  space  used  for  each  argument  and  the 
order  in  which  the  arguments  are  introduced.  Such 
a  test  often  reveals  some  most  valuable  facts. 

f.  How  completely  the  sales  organization  cooper- 
ates with  the  advertising  department. 

12.  Correcting  errors  by  studying  competitors. — A 
manufacturer  of  trucks  wanted  to  know  the  sales  and 
advertising  methods  used  by  his  competitors.  He 
found  that  while  he  was  using  form  letters  to  answer 
inquiries,  twelve  of  his  fourteen  competitors  were 
using  personal  letters  and  referring  in  these  letters  ta 
trucks  they  had  sold  to  buyers  located  in  the  citv  or 

XIII— 1 


30  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

district  from  which  the  inquiry  came.  This  led  to  his 
keeping  an  accurate  record  and  a  set  of  testimonial 
letters  for  every  truck  he  sold.  He  found  that  eight 
of  the  fourteen  competitors  spent  a  dollar  and  a  half 
on  each  inquirer  in  letters  and  booklets.  The  most 
striking  discovery  was  made  in  studying  the  dates  on 
which  the  different  pieces  of  literature  were  received 
and  the  promptness  with  which  the  district  representa- 
tives of  his  competitors  called  on  the  inquirer.  Twelve 
of  the  fourteen  competitors  sent  a  sales  representative 
to  call  on  the  inquirer  before  he  received  or  could  have 
received  a  letter  from  the  manufacturer  in  reply  to 
his  inquiry.  This  clearly  indicated  that  these  twelve 
manufacturers  did  not  wait  for  the  mails,  but  were  in 
the  habit  of  wiring  their  district  agents  on  receipt  of 
inquiries  from  responsible  persons.  The  manufac- 
turer who  conducted  the  investigation  had  not  been 
doing  this.  He  had  been  losing  considerable  busi- 
ness in  his  own  territory,  but  until  he  made  this  an- 
alysis he  could  not  understand  why. 

13.  Comparison  of  sales  policies. — Advertising, 
the  putting  of  one's  sales  arguments  on  paper,  has 
probably  had  more  to  do  with  developing  sales  poli- 
cies and  the  ideals  of  business  than  any  other  force. 
A  non-advertiser  usually  follows  the  crowd.  But  as 
soon  as  advertising  is  undertaken,  definite  sales  poli- 
cies must  be  chosen  and  adhered  to.  Many  advertis- 
ing campaigns  have  had  for  their  purposes  the  reme- 
dying of  some  particular  sales  conditions. 

One  manufacturer  has  a  competitor  who  is  in  the 


DEMAND  AND  COMPETITION  31 

habit  of  overselling.  It  might  seem  that  to  avoid  sub- 
stitution by  dealers,  the  only  way  to  meet  such  com- 
petition would  be  to  oversell  also.  But  the  sales 
manager,  realizing  the  weapon  he  would  have  by  pur- 
suing a  different  policy,  instructs  his  men  to  under- 
sell rather  than  oversell,  and  to  make  a  talking  point 
of  it.  The  advertising  man,  seeing  his  advantage, 
calls  the  attention  of  the  public  to  the  fact  that  his 
goods  in  the  dealers'  hands  are  always  fresh ;  and  the 
policy  of  competitors  is  thus  made  to  pay  handsome 
returns. 

14.  Comparison  of  freight  advantages. — In  the 
distribution  of  many  conmiodities,  such  as  building 
materials  and  household  furniture,  some  competitors 
have  great  advantages  over  others  in  freight  rates.  In 
determining  on  advertising  campaigns  to  reach  new 
territories,  it  is  desirable  to  compare  freight  rates  in 
these  cases  and  to  choose  for  extensive  advertising 
those  territories  in  which  one  has  at  least  equal  ship- 
ping opportunities  with  competitors.  A  map  show- 
ing the  location  of  each  competitor  and  the  territory 
into  which  he  can  economically  ship,  is  helpful  in 
choosing  advertising  mediums.  Such  a  map  should 
be  compared  with  the  circulation  records  of  each  ad- 
vertising medium  in  each  territory  that  is  considered. 

15.  Relative  importance  of  competitors. — In  plan- 
ning an  advertising  campaign  one  should  decide 
whether  he  is  in  a  position  to  dominate  his  field,  so 
far  as  the  force  of  advertising  is  concerned,  or  whether 
it  would  be  better  for  him  to  use  smaller  space,  per- 


32  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

haps  more  frequently,  relying  for  the  supreme  com- 
petitive efforts  on  the  sales  force. 

The  A  Company  manufactures  a  specialty  for 
farmers.  It  finds  that  75  per  cent  of  the  business  in 
its  line  is  now  done  by  one  competitor.  The  remain- 
ing 25  per  cent  is  divided  among  fifteen  other  small 
concerns  of  which  the  A  Company  is  one.  The  lead- 
ing competitor  has  used  educational  copy  and  large 
space  in  agricultural  publications  for  five  years.  The 
business  of  the  A  Company  will  not  warrant  compe- 
tition with  the  leader  either  in  size  of  appropriation 
or  in  amount  of  space  used.  The  A  Company's  ad- 
vertising manager  decides  under  these  conditions  to 
take  smaller  space  but  to  appear  in  the  agricultural 
publications  regularly,  always  appearing  in  each  is- 
sue in  which  his  chief  competitor  appears.  The  copy 
is  intended  to  bring  inquiries  at  low  expense,  rather 
than  to  make  sales,  on  the  theory  that  a  farmer  will 
wish  to  investigate  more  than  one  make  of  the  par- 
ticular specialty  before  he  buys,  and  that  if  each  ad- 
vertiser receives  an  inquiry  or  a  proportion  of  the 
inquiries,  he  must  leave  the  closing  of  the  sale  to  his 
sales  force. 

An  entirely  different  plan  of  procedure  was 
adopted  by  a  maker  of  men's  furnishings.  On  investi- 
gation he  found  that  while  one  competitor  stood  out 
head  and  shoulders  above  all  others,  this  competitor 
actually  controlled  only  25  per  cent  of  the  market; 
the  investigator  controlled  12  per  cent;  another  com- 
petitor controlled  10  per  cent;  and  the  rest  of  the 


DEMAND  AND  COMPETITION  33 

market  was  divided  among  30  competitors  controlling 
in  no  case  more  than  7  per  cent  each.  The  leader  in 
the  field,  while  spending  a  certain  amount  for  adver- 
tising, did  not  spend  in  proportion  to  the  amount  of 
business  controlled.  The  manufacturer  in  question 
decided  that  there  was  an  opportunity  for  him  to  be- 
come the  leader  in  his  line.  While  he  was  not  the 
leader  in  volume  of  sales,  he  determined  that  his 
advertising  should  have  the  appearance  of  leadership. 
He  employed  a  famous  illustrator  to  make  all  the 
illustrations  for  his  advertisements.  All  the  type  was 
hand-lettered  by  the  best  designers.  His  cuts  were 
in  every  way  superior  to  those  of  his  competitors. 
The  size  of  space  used  was  carefully  planned  to  be 
larger  and  more  commanding  than  that  of  his  com- 
petitors. This  plan  was  consistently  followed  thruout 
all  the  advertising,  and  today  this  manufacturer  con- 
trols over  70  per  cent  of  the  business  in  his  line. 

REVIEW 

How  does  an  advertiser  determine  the  advertising  policy 
which  will  develop  the  best  demand  for  his  goods? 

What  is  meant  by  calling  advertising  educative?  Give  specific 
instances  of  advertisers  who  have  improved  the  standards  of 
living. 

Why  is  it  easier  to  market  the  younger  members  of  a  "family" 
of  products  than  it  is  to  establish  a  demand  for  the  first-born? 

Should  the  good-will  created  by  advertising  be  added  to  the 
company's  assets?     How  would  you  figure  its  value? 

What  facts  may  be  gleaned  from  competitors'  advertising  cam- 
paigns and  put  to  your  own  advantage? 


CHAPTER  III 

THE  ADVERTISING  APPROPRIATION 

1.  How  much  to  spend  for  advertising. — The  an- 
swer to  the  question,  "How  much  will  it  cost  to  ad- 
vertise?" is  much  like  the  answer  to  the  question, 
"How  much  will  it  cost  to  build  a  house?"  A  house 
may  cost  all  the  way  from  a  few  hundred  dollars  to  a 
few  million  dollars,  depending  on  what  the  owner 
needs  or  thinks  he  needs.  If  it  is  only  shelter  he 
wants  he  may  obtain  it  very  cheaply,  but  mere  shelter 
is  not  the  only  consideration.  Before  a  man  starts  to 
build  a  house,  he  usually  has  in  mind  an  approximate 
price  which  he  hopes  will  build  for  him  a  house  repre- 
sentative of  his  social  standing.  Even  in  the  same 
social  group,  two  men  may  spend  widely  varying 
amounts  for  their  homes,  depending  on  their  tastes 
and  the  size  of  their  families.  In  advertising,  the 
amount  of  the  investment  depends  on  the  purpose  to 
be  achieved,  on  the  actual  or  desired  position  of  the 
advertiser  in  his  field,  and  on  his  individual  tastes  and 
preferences. 

2.  The  value  of  records. — Some  mail-order  adver- 
tisers have  kept  records  for  years,,  so  they  feel  they 
can  tell  within  a  few  hundred  dollars  the  amount  of 
business  that  may  be  secured  from  any  given  appro- 

34 


ADVERTISING  APPROPRIATIONS  35 

priation.  In  this  chapter  we  shall  discuss  the  differ- 
ent methods  employed  by  leading  advertisers  in  de- 
termining their  annual  advertising  appropriations, 
and  shall  leave  the  reader  to  choose  what  he  considers 
the  best  method  to  follow  in  planning  an  advertising 
campaign  for  any  product  that  he  might  wish  to  ad- 
vertise. 

3.  Time  required  to  reduce  selling  cost  per  unit. — 
Advertising  requires  three  things:  time,  money  and 
intelligence.  At  the  start  of  a  campaign,  advertis- 
ing seldom  pays;  it  usually  takes  time  to  produce 
satisfactory  results.  As  the  farmer  plants  his  seed 
and  waits,  knowing  full  well  that,  if  the  seed  is  right 
and  the  soil  is  right,  the  harvest  will  come;  so  the  ad- 
vertiser invests  his  money  and  waits,  knowing  full 
well  that,  if  his  advertisements  are  intelligently  pre- 
pared and  if  he  has  chosen  his  market  and  his  plan 
carefully,  time  will  bring  the  harvest. 

When  the  Russell-Miller  Milhng  Company  began 
to  advertise  Occident  Flour,  the  officers  knew  that 
successful  advertising  does  three  things: 

First,  it  increases  the  asset  of  good-will  in  a  busi- 
ness. 

Second,  it  produces  volume  of  sales,  which  usually 
results  in  decreased  manufacturing  cost  per  unit. 

Third,  by  increasing  the  volume  it  ultimately  de- 
creases the  unit  selling  cost. 

As  none  of  these  things  comes  in  a  minute  or  a 
month,  the  advertising  expense  was  neither  imme- 
diately listed  as  an  asset  nor  charged  to  selling  ex- 


36  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

pense.  The  first  appropriation  was  for  $600,000,  one- 
third  of  this  to  be  spent  annually  for  three  consecu- 
tive years. 

"Our  expenditure  for  advertising,"  said  Mr.  H. 
S.  Helm,  the  general  manager,  "was  undertaken  with 
no  thought  or  expectation  of  an  early  harvest  on  the 
seed  sown.  It  was  considered  at  the  start  that  ma- 
terial returns  should  not  be  conservatively  looked  for 
short  of  three  years'  continuous  advertising. 

"The  undertaking  was  looked  upon  and  treated  as 
an  investment  in  good-will  and  insurance  on  business 
already  established.  It  was  perfectly  plain  that  the 
current  business,  or  that  of  the  very  near  future,  could 
not  stand  an  increase  in  per  barrel  selling  cost  to  ab- 
sorb the  advertising  expense.  We  therefore  made 
our  appropriation  covering  a  period  of  three  years 
and  prepared  to  charge  the  advertising  out  as  ex- 
pended from  past  earnings  and  surplus  until  such 
time  as  it  could  be  charged  to  the  current  selling  cost 
without  increasing  the  per  barrel  selling  cost." 

Six  hundred  thousand  dollars,  on  an  intangible 
and  new  venture,  taken  right  out  of  past  profits,  re- 
quires nerve,  as  every  advertising  man  knows;  but 
the  results  have  already  proved  the  soundness  of  the 
theory;  the  selling  cost  per  barrel  so  decreased 
that  instead  of  waiting  three  years,  after  the  end  of 
the  second  year  the  company  charged  the  advertising 
expense  as  part  of  the  current  selling  expense.  And 
still  the  investment  in  good-will,  because  it  is  real 
good-will,  goes  on  drawing  compound  interest.     Dur- 


ADVERTISING  APPROPRIATIONS 


ing  the  first  two  years  of  national  advertising,  the 
increase  in  sales  was  more  than  five  times  the  increase 
in  selling  expense. 

4.  When  advertising  begins  to  bear  fruit. — An  in- 
teresting example  of  the  way  advertising  affects  the 
sales  curve  is  shown  in  the  accompanying  illustra- 
tion, taken  from  the  records  of  the  business  of  the 


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Courtscy  of  Way  Sagless  Spring  Company. 

AVay  Sagless  Spring  Company.  From  the  begin- 
ning of  1910  to  the  middle  of  1912  the  advertising 
appropriation  in  dollars  greatly  exceeded  the  sales 
of  springs.  After  the  middle  of  1912,  while  the  ad- 
vertising appropriation  constantly  increased,  the 
sales  curve  increased  at  a  much  faster  rate.     Since 


38  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

1916  sales  in  springs  have  not  increased  in  the  same 
ratio  as  sales  in  dollars.  The  drop  in  advertising  in 
1918  is  reflected  in  sales  tho  it  was  in  part  due  to  the 
difficulty  in  securing  raw  material.  Experiences  such 
as  this  lead  advertising  men  to  believe  that  in  the  be- 
ginning the  amount  of  the  appropriation  cannot  be 
expected  to  have  a  direct  ratio  to  the  resulting  sales. 

5.  Basing  the  appropriation  on  a  specified  amount 
per  unit  of  expected  sales. — In  attempting  to  insure 
permanent  sales  success  some  advertisers  base  their 
appropriations  on  a  certain  number  of  cents  per  unit 
of  expected  sales.  They  reason  rightly  that  it  is 
not  enough  to  sell  to  jobbers  and  retailers  alone. 
They  must  help  the  dealers  to  make  sales  to  consum- 
ers. It  is  )vorth  a  certain  amount  per  unit  to  assure 
the  dealers  that  consumers  will  know  of  the  product 
and  will  demand  it. 

The  Dayton  Engineering  Laboratories  Company 
sold  12,000  "Delco"  starters  to  manufacturers  in 
1912.  At  the  beginning  of  1913,  this  company  had 
already  contracted  with  manufacturers  for  25,000 
systems.  It  decided  that  it  could  afford  from  sales 
expense  a  dollar  for  each  system  sold  to  educate 
the  public  to  the  merits  of  the  starter.  There- 
fore the  first  advertising  appropriation  was  $25,000. 
The  advertising  was  so  successful,  however,  that  the 
company  actually  sold  37,000  systems  during  1913. 
The  advertising  appropriation  has  been  increased 
each  year  on  the  basis  of  the  number  of  systems  con- 
tracted for,  but  the  price  of  the  system  and  the  ap- 


ADVERTISING  APPROPRIATIONS  39 

propriation  per  unit  have  decreased,  so  that  today 
the  advertising  appropriation  is  probably  less  than 
fifty  cents  a  machine. 

The  Creamette  Company  plans  to  spend  ten  cents  a 
case  in  advertising  Creamettes.  Each  year  the  adver- 
tising appropriation  is  based  on  an  amount  equal  to 
ten  cents  a  case  of  expected  sales.  By  following  the 
sales  curve  the  company  is  able  to  estimate  approxi- 
mately the  number  of  cases  it  should  sell  during  the 
year. 

6.  Basing  the  appropriation  on  a  certain  amount 
per  j^ossible  purchaser. — Other  advertisers  look  at  the 
problem  from  the  angle  of  possible  purchasers  rather 
than  sales.  They  consider  advertising  purely  as 
memory  insurance.  Except  in  cases  of  very  season- 
able articles,  one  can  never  tell  just  when  his  pros- 
pects are  thinking  of  buying.  If  an  advertiser  feels 
certain  tliat  his  possible  customers  will  remember  his 
brand  favorably  whenever  they  are  ready  to  buy,  he 
may  feel  that  his  sales  are  more  than  half  made. 
These  advertisers  consider  it  worth  so  much  per  buyer 
per  year  to  be  sure  that  their  products  will  remain  in 
the  memories  of  their  possible  customers. 

Coca-Cola,  with  its  annual  advertising  appropria- 
tion, which  is  said  to  be  more  than  $1,000,000,  spends 
in  this  country  of  106,000,000  people  approximately  a 
cent  a  year  a  prospect  for  memory  insurance.  A 
manufacturer  of  ornamental  iron  and  bronze,  which 
is  used  only  in  large  buildings,  spends  two  dollars 
a  year  a  prospect  for  such  insurance.     There  are  in 


40  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

this  country  only  1,000  architects  with  whom  he  can 
do  business  profitably.  His  advertising  costs  $2,000 
a  year.  Most  of  it  is  spent  in  reaching  architects 
direct  by  mail.  Coca-Cola,  on  the  other  hand,  may 
be  purchased  by  anyone,  and  everyone  is  a  possible 
customer.  When  Coca-Cola  makes  a  sale,  the  ex- 
change is  for  a  nickel.  When  the  other  man  makes 
a  sale,  the  sum  involved  runs  into  the  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  dollars.  One  can  afford  to  pay  more 
per  unit.  The  other  can  afford  to  pay  more  in  the 
total. 

Ivory  Soap  is  another  example  of  a  product  with 
a  practically  universal  appeal  on  which  is  spent  ap- 
proximately a  penny  a  possible  purchaser  a  year. 
Wm.  Wrigley,  Jr.  is  said  to  spend  two  cents  a 
person  a  year  to  advertise  his  gums.  His  adver- 
tising appropriation  is  reported  to  amount  to  $2,500,- 
000  annually. 

7.  Basing  the  appropriation  on  the  amount  of  capi- 
tal available. — The  average  advertiser  is  not,  how- 
ever, in  the  financial  position  of  the  Coca-Cola  Com- 
pany, the  Procter  &  Gamble  Company,  or  William 
Wrigley,  Jr.  The  question  with  him  usually  is, 
"How  much  can  I  afford?"  In  such  cases  the  adver- 
tising campaign  must  be  planned  to  fit  the  conditions. 
Even  the  largest  national  advertisers  commenced  in 
a  small  way.  They  planned  their  advertising  cam- 
paigns to  cover  one  city  or  one  district ;  then,  as  their 
business  grew,  they  extended  the  advertising  until 
they  finally  secured  national  distribution  and  were 


ADVERTISING  APPROPRIATIONS  41 

able  to  make  their  appropriations  on  the  basis  of  na- 
tional demand. 

In  studying  the  different  methods  of  determining 
the  appropriation,  one  must  bear  this  fact  clearly  in 
mind:  It  is  just  as  unprofitable  to  spend  too  much 
as  it  is  to  spend  too  little;  and  the  more  quickly  an 
advertiser  can  get  his  business  into  a  condition  in 
which  it  is  possible  to  fix  his  advertising  appropria- 
tion on  some  carefully  selected  and  tested  basis,  the 
more  certain  will  be  his  success. 

8.  Basing  the  appropriation  on  cost  per  inquiry 
and  per  sale. — Probably  the  most  scientific  method 
of  determining  the  appropriation  is  that  adapted  by 
a  certain  mail-order  specialty  house.  They  know  ex- 
actly how  much  they  can  afford  to  spend  to  make  a 
sale.  After  years  of  careful  record  keeping,  they 
know  what  proportion  of  inquiries  can  be  turned  into 
sales  and  the  cost  of  the  follow-up  hterature  for  each 
inquiry.  These  advertisers  usually  place  contracts 
for  only  a  few  advertisements  in  a  publication  at  a 
time,  carefully  checking  the  cost  per  inquiry,  and  dis- 
continuing the  advertising  whenever  the  cost  per  in- 
cjuiry  proves  excessive. 

A  certain  mail  order  advertiser  can  afford  to  pay 
$50  for  his  average  sale  and  still  make  a  reasonable 
profit  on  each  sale.  Each  year  he  estimates  the 
amount  of  investment  his  capital  will  allow  him  to 
make  on  this  basis  and  the  amount  of  business  he  can 
handle.  He  instructs  his  advertising  agent  to  place 
advertising  on  this  basis.     His  records  show  that  he 


42  ADVERTISING    CAMPAIGNS 

turns  5%  of  his  inquiries  into  sales.  Whenever  the  in- 
quiry cost  is  more  than  $2.50,  a  publication  is  cut  off 
the  list  and  whenever  the  inquiry  cost  is  less  than  that 
amount  more  space  is  used  in  that  publication.  Each 
week  the  advertiser  furnishes  the  agency  with  a  report 
of  his  inquiries  and  sales  to  date.  The  agent  adds 
or  cancels  publications,  increases  or  decreases  space 
and  changes  plan  of  appeal  as  these  accurate  records 
of  returns  indicate.  In  some  publications  the  adver- 
tiser can  only  afford  to  use  one  column,  four  inch 
space  while  in  others  he  uses  pages  and  in  one  publica- 
tion he  uses  as  many  as  four  pages  in  each  issue. 
Most  mail  order  advertisers  know  what  it  has  cost 
them  per  sale  during  a  period  of  years  and  with  these 
records  they  buy  the  increase  in  business  which  their 
available  capital  and  conditions  justify. 

9.  Basing  the  appropriation  on  a  proportion  of  the 
profits  of  the  previous  year. — ^An  increase  in  the  ad- 
vertising appropriation  is  one  of  the  most  definite  in- 
dications of  a  desire  to  grow.  Some  advertisers  at 
the  end  of  the  year,  instead  of  putting  the  profits  of 
the  business  into  surplus,  put  a  certain  amount  into 
advertising  for  the  coming  year.  One  advertiser  rea- 
sons that,  as  his  business  increases,  he  will  need  new 
plants  and  additions  to  his  present  factories.  Each 
year  he  lays  aside  a  certain  amount  of  his  profits  to- 
ward the  day  when  he  will  need  these  new  factories. 
He  also  realizes  that  to  obtain  demand  sufficient  to 
require  new  factories,  he  must  increase  his  advertising. 
He  decides  that  if  his  profit  amounts  to  twenty  per 


ADVERTISING  APPROPRIATIONS  43 


cent,  he  will  put  five  per  cent  of  that  profit  into  ad- 
vertising and  five  per  cent  into  surplus.  If  his  profit 
amounts  to  thirty  per  cent,  he  will  put  ten  per  cent 
into  advertising  and  ten  per  cent  into  surplus. 

Many  of  our  most  successful  advertisers  have  built 
their  fortunes  on  the  principle  of  putting  all  of  their 
profits  back  into  advertising  during  the  period  of 
their  early  growth.  John  Wanamaker  started  in 
business  for  himself  April  8,  1861.  At  the  close  of 
the  first  day  the  cash  drawer  revealed  a  total  intake  of 
$24.67.  Of  this  amount  $24.00  was  spent  for  adver- 
tising and  67  cents  saved  for  making  change  next 
morning.  Wanamaker  followed  that  general  policy 
for  many  years.  Wm.  Wrigley,  who  built  up  a  business 
which  now  is  said  to  amount  to  something  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  $50,000,000  a  year,  started  with  an  original 
capital  of  $32.00.  For  years  he  put  all  of  his  profits 
back  into  advertising.  Twice  he  attempted  to  enter 
the  New  York  market  and  failed.  The  first  time  he 
spent  $100,000  for  advertising.  He  went  back  and 
waited  until  he  had  another  profit  of  $100,000  and 
tried  it  again.  This  attempt  was  also  a  failure.  He 
then  waited  until  he  had  $200,000  saved  and  as  soon 
as  he  had  it,  he  proceeded  to  New  York  and  dropped 
it  in  the  same  place.  This  time  his  efforts  met  with 
success. 

10.  Basing  the  appropriation  on  amotmt  spent  the 
previous  year. — Many  advertisers  have  no  more  defi- 
nite basis  for  estimating  their  appropriations  than  the 
amount  they  spent  the  year  previous.     If  this  amount 


44  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

is  used  simply  as  a  starting  point  from  which  to  figure 
a  possibly  increased  appropriation,  there  is  no  objec- 
tion to  its  use.  But  if  the  advertiser  blindly  appro- 
priates for  one  year  the  same  amount  he  spent  the 
year  before,  without  regard  to  the  developing  needs 
of  his  business,  he  can  hardly  expect  to  meet  changing 
conditions  or  to  make  progress.  One  of  the  leading 
advertising  agents  will  not  take  an  advertising  ac- 
count unless  the  advertiser  is  willing  to  increase  his 
appropriation  at  least  fifteen  per  cent  each  year.  He 
does  not  care  to  handle  an  account  unless  the  business 
of  the  advertiser  is  to  grow,  and  he  estimates  fifteen 
per  cent  as  the  lowest  normal,  healthy  increase  of  a 
business  that  does  consistent  advertising. 

11.  Basing  the  appropriation  on  the  space  desired. 
— To  make  the  desired  impression  with  certain  ad- 
vertising campaigns,  it  is  advisable  to  use  a  certain 
amount  of  space  or  else  not  to  attempt  advertising 
at  all.  If  an  advertiser  wishes  to  dominate  and  to 
use  only  full  pages,  it  will  cost  him  a  certain  amount 
of  money. 

The  magazine  publicity  of  the  National  Cash  Reg- 
ister Company  is  estimated  on  such  a  basis.  An  ad- 
vertising campaign,  using  full  pages,  extending  thru 
a  year,  and  carrying  a  definite  message,  could  not  pos- 
sibly accomplish  its  purpose  if  the  advertiser  confined 
himself  to  small  space — one  column,  three-inch  copy, 
for  instance.  Such  small  space  advertising  would,  in 
fact,  make  the  opposite  impression  from  that  desired ; 
it  would  be  much  better  not  to  advertise  at  all  than 


ADVERTISING  APPROPRIATIONS  45 

to  spend  so  small  an  amount  of  money.  Advertising 
men  often  have  in  mind  a  certain  amount  which  it  is 
necessary  to  spend  in  a  national  campaign  for  a  prod- 
uct of  general  consumption,  to  accomplish  satisfactory 
results.  In  planning  such  a  campaign,  one  must  first 
decide  on  the  advertising  needed  and  then  estimate  its 
cost. 

12.  Basing  the  appropriation  on  a  certain  per  cent 
of  gross  sales. — Probably  the  most  popular  plan  of 
estimating  the  appropriation  is  on  the  basis  of  a  cer- 
tain per  cent  of  gross  sales.  Some  advertisers  esti- 
mate on  the  basis  of  the  sales  of  the  previous  year  and 
others  estimate  on  the  basis  of  expected  sales.  This 
j)ercentage  differs,  of  course,  for  each  class  of  busi- 
ness, usually  for  each  business  house  in  its  class. 
Many  advertising  men  object  to  this  method  because 
they  contend  that  it  costs  a  larger  proportionate 
amount  to  build  a  business  up  than  it  does  to  keep  it 
going.  Up  to  a  certain  point,  it  also  costs  less  pro- 
portionately to  keep  a  big  business  going  than  it  does 
to  keep  a  small  business  going. 

The  advantages  of  the  plan  rest  on  the  fact  that  a 
percentage  basis  gives  every  advertiser  something 
definite  to  work  on.  From  year  to  year  an  increasing 
number  of  })usiness  houses  are  beginning  to  know  ac- 
curately their  costs  of  doing  business  and  are  appor- 
tioning a  definite  proportion  of  this  cost  to  each 
department.  The  Sherwin-Williams  Company  of 
Cleveland  bases  its  advertising  appropriation  on  three 
and  a  half  per  cent  of  its  gross  sales  of  all  kinds  of 

XIII— 5 


46  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

paint  and  other  materials  which  it  distributes.  The 
Sherwin-Williams  Company  may  put  all  of  its  adver- 
tising efforts  on  only  one  or  two  kinds  of  paint,  but 
its  appropriation  is,  nevertheless,  based  on  its  gross 
sales  of  all  its  products  for  the  year.  When  asked 
why  this  method  was  adopted  and  how  the  three  and 
a  half  per  cent  was  arrived  at,  the  advertising  man- 
ager said,  "We  have  found  that  our  advertising  should 
be  this  proportion  of  our  cost  of  doing  business.  We 
find  that  we  cannot  make  enough  progress  if  we  spend 
less,  and  that  we  cannot  show  enough  profit  if  we 
spend  more." 

13.  Retailers'  appropriations. — Retailers,  depend- 
ent for  the  success  of  their  advertising  on  sales  made 
from  day  to  day,  and  spending  the  larger  amount  of 
their  appropriations  in  newspapers  which  are  usually 
read  and  destroyed  every  twenty-four  hours,  are  able 
to  gauge  the  returns  from  their  advertising  more  defi- 
nitely than  national  advertisers.  The  prevailing  cus- 
tom among  retailers  is  to  base  the  appropriation  on 
a  certain  percentage  of  gross  sales.  The  retailer's 
cost  of  doing  business  is  increasing,  and  the  intelligent 
dealer  knows  exactly  how  much  of  this  cost  he  can  af- 
ford to  appropriate  for  rent,  how  much  for  bad  debts, 
how  much  for  clerks  and  how  much  for  advertising. 

It  is  said  that  in  the  early  days  John  Wanamaker 
was  able  to  keep  his  advertising  appropriation  down 
close  to  two  and  one-half  per  cent  of  sales.  Today 
his  appropriation  is  said  to  reach  five  per  cent.  When 
Gimbel  Brothers  started  their  New  York  store  they 


*felt  < 


ADVERTISING  APPROPRIATIONS  47 


elt  called  upon  to  do  aggressive  advertising  in  an- 
ticipation of  business,  and  are  said  to  have  spent  con- 
siderably over  six  per  cent.  Leading  authorities  say 
that  the  successful  department  store  of  today  should 
spend  at  least  three  per  cent. 

14.  Determining  the  proper  percentage, — The  abil- 
ity to  determine  the  proper  percentage  on  greatest 
sales  which  any  concern  should  spend  for  advertis- 
ing is  one  of  the  greatest  assets  for  success.  Hart, 
Schaffner  &  Marx  estimate  that  the  retail  clothier's 
normal  proportion  should  be  5%  of  the  season's  sales. 
In  evidence  of  this  they  cite  the  experience  of  a  retailer 
in  increasing  and  then  decreasing  his  proportion  below 
and  above  this  percentage.  The  results  of  this  experi- 
ence were  set  forth  by  Mr.  Joseph  H.  Schaffner  in  a 
pamphlet  in  which  the  facts  were  displayed  in  an  in- 
teresting series  of  charts.  Xot  less  significant  than 
the  charts  themselves  were  Mr.  Schaffner's  pertinent 
comments  upon  them.  We  may  briefly  review  this 
experience. 

2nd  Season 

Advertising  appropriation  3.42  per  cent  of  business  of 
preceding  year. 

Result,  loss  of  12.5  per  cent  in  volume  of  business. 

Advertising  cost  became  3.9  per  cent  of  year's  busi- 
ness. 
This  is  Mr.  Schaffner's  comment : 

"They  planned  to  *save'  money  and  only  spent  an 
amount  equal  to  3.42%  for  advertising.  By  so  doing 
they  lost  so  much  business  that  an  advertising  Appropria- 
tion of  3.42%  of  last  season's  sales  is  now  equal  to  an 
advertising  expense  of  3.9%  of  this  season's  business. 


48  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

3rd  Season 

Advertising  appropriation  4.68  per  cent  of  business  of 
preceding  year. 

Result,  74  per  cent  increase  in  business  over  previous 
season. 

Advertising  cost  became  3.9  per  cent  of  year's  busi- 
ness. 

Mr.  SchafFner  says : 

"They  appropriated  4.68%  of  2nd  season's  sales  for 
3rd  season's  advertising.  And  business  increased  so 
rapidly  that  advertising  turned  out  to  be  only  3.9% 
instead  of  4.68%  of  current  season's  business." 

4th  Season 

Advertising  appropriation  2.4  per  cent  of  business  of 
preceding  year. 

Result,  loss  of  36.22  per  cent  of  last  season's  business. 

Advertising  cost  became  3.77  per  cent  of  year's  busi- 
ness. 
Mr.  Schaffner  says : 

"They  evidently  thought  the  business  was  growing  so 
fast  they  didn't  need  to  bother  about  advertising.  Only 
appropriated  2.4%  of  the  previous  season's  business  and 
'saved'  the  rest.  And  they  lost  so  much  business  that 
advertising  appropriation  turned  out  to  be  3.77%  of 
current  season,  as  against  2.4%  of  last." 

5th  Season 

Advertising  appropriation,  6.35  per  cent  of  business  of 
preceding  year. 

Result,  26.4  per  cent  increase  in  business  over  previous 
season. 

Advertising  cost  only  5  per  cent  of  year's  business. 
Mr.  Schaffner's  comment  is  as  follows : 

"They  learned  their  lesson.  This  season  they  appro- 
priated. 6.35%  for  advertising.  And  their  business  in- 
creased to  such  an  extent  that  their  advertising  appro- 
priation turned  out  to  be  only  5%  of  their  current  sea- 
son's sales  after  all." 


ADVERTISING  APPROPRIATIONS  49 

1919  Business 

Advertising  appropriation  9.46  per  cent  of  business  of 
preceding  year. 

Result,  97.8  per  cent  increase  in  business  over  previous 
season. 

Advertising  cost  4.78  per  cent  of  year's  business. 

Mr.  SchafFner  says: 

"It's  easy  to  see  they  feel  they've  discovered  the  secret 
of  success.  It  took  a  long  test  to  convince  them,  but 
now  they've  gone  in  hook,  line  and  sinker  and  appropri- 
ated 9.46%  of  their  past  year's  sales  for  advertising. 
And  they've  rediscovered  that  old  truth,  that  you  really 
can't  spend  any  money  for  advertising.  The  increased 
sales  roll  in  so  much  faster  than  one  can  spend  the  money 
on  advertising  that  even  by  appropriating  9.46%  they 
couldn't  get  the  percentage  of  advertising  expenditure 
above  5%.  The  business  increased  so  rapidly  that  of 
9.46%  last  season's  sales  only  amounted  to  4.78%  of  the 
current  season's." 

These  figures  show  very  clearly  the  expensive  ad- 
vertising appropriations  are  of  those  which  are  too 
small  and  they  demonstrate  the  soundness  of  judg- 
ment exhibited  by  such  men  as  Wanamaker  and 
Wrigley  that  advertising  is  the  force  that  brings  re- 
turns in  due  proportion  to  the  faith  that  the  ex- 
perienced advertiser  places  in  it. 

15.  Apportioning  the  appropriation. — The  na- 
tional advertiser  in  apportioning  his  appropriation 
has  a  much  more  difficult  problem  than  that  of  the 
retailer.  The  question  has  often  been  asked,  "How 
much  should  be  apportioned  to  general  publicity  and 
how  much  to  dealer  advertising?"  The  amounts  ap- 
j)()rtioned  vary,  from  the  Cream  of  Wheat  Company, 


50  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

which  spends  one  hundred  per  cent  in  general  pub- 
licity, to  Sears,  Roebuck  &  Company,  which  spends 
practically  all  of  its  appropriation  direct  thru  the 
mails.  The  advertising  department  of  the  Cream  of 
Wheat  Company,  which  is  said  to  spend  over  $500,- 
000  annually,  consists  of  one  man.  Colonel  Emery 
Mapes  himself.  The  advertising  department  of 
Sears,  Roebuck  &  Company  consists  of  about  1500 
people.  No  general  rules  can  be  given  in  regard  to 
the  division  of  appropriations,  but  the  following  fig- 
ures may  be  of  interest : 

APPORTIONMENT  OF  PUBLICITY  AND  DEALER 
ADVERTISING  IN  DIFFERENT  LINES 

General  Dealer 

Classes  of  Merchandise  Publicity  Publicity 

4?     Jewelry  Manufacturers  ....  73  per  cent  27  per  cent 

4     Automobile  Manufacturers  .  90  per  cent  10  per  cent 

6  Food  Manufacturers 85  per  cent  15  per  cent 

3     Women's  Clothing  Manufac- 
turers      95  per  cent  5  per  cent 

7  Office    Equipment   Manufac- 

turers       75  per  cent       25  per  cent 

REVIEW 

Why  are  patience  and  persistence  necessary  in  undertaking  an 
advertising  campaign?  How  long  do  you  think  it  would  be  be- 
fore unit  selling  costs  could  be  reduced,  thru  advertising,  in  some 
business  in  which  you  are  interested.'' 

Why  not  make  the  appropriation  the  same  from  year  to  year? 

In  what  class  of  cases  would  it  be  better  not  to  advertise  at  all, 
if  one  could  not  use  large  space? 

What  are  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  estimating  ap- 
propriations on  the  basis  of  a  certain  percentage  of  gross  sales? 


ADVERTISING  APPROPRIATIONS  51 

Why  do  department  stores  spend  more  to  advertise  men's  neck- 
wear than  to  advertise  notions? 

In  the  business  with  which  you  are  most  familiar  what  would 
be  the  best  method  of  fixing  the  amount  of  the  advertising  ap- 
propriation ? 


CHAPTER  IV 

METHODS  OF  IDENTIFICATION 

1.  Necessity  of  identification. — The  pivot  around 
which  every  advertising  campaign  revolves  is  the 
thing  or  things  by  which  the  pubhc  is  to  identify  the 
article  or  the  service  advertised.  This  may  be  a  name, 
a  mark,  a  package,  a  slogan,  or  one  or  more  of  many 
other  things.  Whatever  it  is,  it  must  have  individu- 
ality, and  it  must  be  repeated  on  the  product  and  in 
the  advertising.  It  has  been  said  that  the  Royal 
Baking  Powder  Company  has  been  offered  $5,000,- 
000  (a  million  dollars  a  letter)  for  the  right  to  use 
the  name  "Royal"  in  connection  with  baking  pow- 
der. The  great  value  attached  to  this  name  is  the 
result  of  two  things:  (1)  Royal  Baking  Powder 
has  always  been  sold  in  containers  which  prominently 
display  the  name;  (2)  the  public  thru  advertising 
has  been  educated  to  look  for  the  Royal  Baking 
Powder  can.  If  Royal  Baking  Powder  had  been  sold 
in  bulk,  the  public  could  not  have  identified  it  in  the 
grocery  store,  an,d  all  the  advertising  the  company 
has  done  would  have  served  no  purpose.  Identifica- 
tion is  indispensable  to  advertising.  In  a  decision  ren- 
dered by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States, 
Justice  McKenna  called  attention  to  the  importance 
of  advertising  as  "identification  and  description"  in 

52 


METHODS    OF    IDENTIFICATION  63 

serving  to  "draw  attention  to  the  article  sold."  Ad- 
vertising is  more  than  identification,  but  it  is  this  first 
of  all. 

2.  Packages  inake  advertising  possible. — In  the 
beginning,  most  products  were  sold  in  bulk.  Dur- 
ing the  last  century,  ingenious  manufacturers  have 
changed  our  entire  method  of  purchase  by  introduc- 
ing standardized  articles  which  they  have  identified 
in  ways  different  from  those  of  competitors.  Goods, 
formerly  sold  in  bulk,  had  to  be  put  in  packages  in 
order  to  be  identified.  We  have  seen  one  article  after 
another  finally  put  into  a  package  and  trade-marked. 
The  seller  of  seeds  had  no  opportunity  to  advertise 
imtil  he  put  his  seeds  in  packages.  He  could  not 
stamp  his  name  or  his  trade-mark  on  each  individual 
seed.  The  fruit  growers  of  the  West  have  gone  one 
step  farther  and  have  stamped  the  trade-mark  "Sun- 
kist"  on  the  wrappers  of  their  oranges.  For  a  long 
time  it  was  thought  impossible  to  put  oysters  on  the 
market  in  trade-marked  form.  The  Sealshipt  Com- 
pany attempted  to  ship  oysters  in  trade-marked  con- 
tainers on  the  theory  that  the  container  was  the  small- 
est unit  which  could  carry  the  trade-mark.  Many 
complications  arose  which  seemed  to  prove  the  old 
theory  that  the  more  closely  the  trade-mark  can  be 
associated  with  each  unit,  the  more  successful  will  the 
trade-marking  be.  Oyster  manufacturers  are  now 
returning  to  Lowney's  idea,  "name  on  every  piece" 
and  in  the  eastern  states  arc  distributing  the  highest 
quality  of  oysters  with  a  little  tin  tag  on  each  shell. 


54  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

Fifty  years  ago  some  manufacturers  of  textiles  sold 
their  cloth  in  bolts  with  trade-marks  pasted  in  paper 
on  the  outside.  Today  many  textile  manufacturers 
weave  the  trade-mark  into  the  selvage. 

Before  a  manufacturer  begins  to  advertise,  he 
should  clearly  study  the  different  methods  of  identi- 
fying his  product,  and  of  giving  individuality  to  his 
advertising. 

3.  Methods  of  identifying  the  product. — There  are 
three  general  methods  of  identifying  a  product,  its 
wrapper,  or  the  package  in  which  it  is  contained : 

1.  By  the  use  of  a  trade-mark  or  other  individual 
design. 

2.  By  the  use  of  a  distinctive  shape. 

3.  By  the  use  of  a  distinctive  color. 
Trade-marks  are  the  means  of  identification  most 

generally  used.  They  are  discussed  in  detail  in  the 
Text  on  "Advertising  Principles." 

4.  Shape  as  a  means  of  identification. — A  distinc- 
tive shape  for  a  product  or  its  container  is  a  com- 
monly employed  method  of  identification.  Automo- 
bile manufacturers  have  largely  used  it.  While 
trade-marks  are  placed  on  the  radiators,  the  hubs  of 
the  wheels  and  on  other  parts  of  automobiles,  the  aver- 
age schoolboy  can  tell  the  name  of  almost  any  car, 
even  when  it  is  in  motion,  by  its  general  lines  and  the 
individuality  expressed  in  the  shape  of  some  promi- 
nent part,  such  as  the  hood. 

The  makers  of  Log  Cabin  Mable  Syrup  sell  their 
product  in  tin  packages  shaped  like  a  log  cabin. 


METHODS  OF  IDENTIFICATION  65 

^Vhile  the  shape  is  an  inconvenient  one  from  the  stand- 
point of  packing  it  is  very  convenient  from  the  stand- 
point of  identification. 

An  identifying  feature  should  not  be  confused  with 
a  sales  advantage.  The  Pierce  Arrow  automobile  is 
identified  by  lights  on  the  fenders.  Someone  might 
feel  that  the  use  of  lights  the  full  width  of  the  auto- 
mobile might  be  a  protection  against  collision,  yet  this 
manufacturer  does  not  advertise  that  advantage,  real- 
izing that  by  so  doing  he  will  only  enter  a  competitive 
war  on  minor  sales  points.  An  example  of  the  danger 
of  such  a  policy  is  the  experience  of  Colgate  &  Com- 
pany and  Williams  in  advertising  shaving  soap. 
First  one  of  them,  no  one  remembers  which,  came  out 
with  a  new  package  and  advertised  under  the  slogan, 
"We  can't  improve  the  powder  so  we  improved  the 
box."  Then  the  other  improved  the  box  also  and 
came  with  a  campaign  on  "The  box  that  locks."  An 
identifying  feature  should  be  considered  purely  as 
a  matter  of  identification  and  is  not  to  be  regarded  as 
a  sales  argument. 

5.  Color  as  a  means  of  identification. — There  is 
nothing  so  quickly  recognized  by  the  normal  eye  as 
color.  A  manufacturer  of  a  line  of  toilet  prepara- 
tions uses  the  same  color  scheme  for  the  packages  of 
all  his  products,  and  he  reproduces  these  colors  wher- 
ever possible  in  his  advertising.  Manufacturers  of 
automobiles  in  the  beginning  of  the  industry  at- 
tempted to  use  this  method  of  identification.  The 
White  automobile  was   painted   white.     In  bygone 


56  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

days  atl  advertising  campaign  for  a  bicycle  was  based 
on  the  slogan,  "Look  for  the  yellow  fellow."  With 
certain  products,  the  use  of  color  is  impossible.  With 
others  it  is  objectionable  to  the  consumer.  This  was 
found  to  be  the  case  in  automobiles  when  very  bright 
colors  were  used.  While,  today,  colors  are  still  used 
to  identify  certain  makes  of  cars,  the  colors  have 
generally  been  greatly  subdued.  Taxi-cab  compan- 
ies, however,  have  used  bright  yellows,  greens  and  reds 
to  give  individuality  to  their  vehicles. 

There  was  a  time  when  department  stores  wrapped 
their  packages  in  bright  colors,  and  advertised  the 
fact.  People  objected  to  being  used  as  walking  ad- 
vertisements, and  this  method  of  identification  has 
been  discontinued  to  a  large  extent.  The  use  of 
colors,  however,  is  worthy  of  consideration  in  any  ad- 
vertising campaign  because  color  is  probably  the  most 
striking  and  at  the  same  time  the  most  simple  method 
of  identification.  Possibly  the  advertising  of  Sun- 
shine Biscuits  could  be  made  more  effective  if  the 
packages  were  a  bright  sunshine  yellow. 

6.  Methods  of  identifying  the  advertising. — It  is 
not  enough  to  give  to  the  product  or  its  package  an 
identity  so  that  the  consumer  can  easily  recognize  the 
article  and  ask  for  it  by  name.  The  advertising  of 
the  product  should  also  have  an  individuality — it 
should  possess  a  certain  distinctiveness  that  binds  the 
whole  campaign  together  and  which  helps  to  give  a 
cumulative  effect  to  everything  that  is  done  by  the 
advertiser  to  influence  the  mind  of  the  consumer. 


METHODS  OF  IDENTIFICATION  57 

Wherever  possible  there  should  be  a  family  resem- 
blance between  the  advertising  and  the  product.  For 
instance,  if  a  trade  character,  such  as  the  Dutch 
woman  of  Old  Dutch  Cleanser,  appears  on  the  pack- 
age, it  should  appear  too  in  the  advertising;  or  if  dis- 
tinctive colors  are  used  on  the  label — the  red  and 
white  of  Campbell's  soups,  for  example — they  should 
be  used  as  often  as  possible  in  those  forms  of  adver- 
tising that  permit  the  use  of  color. 

In  the  case  of  some  articles  it  is  not  possible  to  link 
up  closely  the  appearance  of  the  advertising,  but  this 
does  not  deprive  the  advertiser  of  the  opportunity  to 
give  individuality  to  his  publicity.  He  has  many 
ways  of  binding  all  his  advertising  together.  Indi- 
viduality in  advertising,  of  course,  should  not  mean 
monotony.  It  is  entirely  possible  to  maintain  a  fam- 
ih'  resemblance  without  making  all  advertisements 
alike.  An  often  unattainable  ideal  is  expressed  by 
one  advertiser:  "Let  there  always  be  in  each  adver- 
tisement something  which  is  the  same  and  something 
which  is  new."  The  Cream  of  Wheat  Company  uses 
its  famous  negro  chef  in  all  its  advertising.  The 
reader  can  immediately  identify  a  Cream  of  AVheat 
advertisement  by  this  figure,  altho  each  advertisement 
shows  the  negro  in  a  new  position.  The  negro  chef 
and  the  name,  Cream  of  Wheat,  are  the  pivot  of  all 
the  manufacturer's  publicity. 

Advertisers  use  many  different  ways  to  make  their 
advertising  distinctive  and  immediately  identifiable. 
Among  them  are  the  following: 


58  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

1.  The  name 

2.  The  trade-mark 

3.  A  typical  character 

4.  A  slogan 

5.  Styles  of  type  faces 

6.  Styles  of  type  composition 

7.  Technique  of  illustrations 

8.  Style  of  copy 

9.  Color 

10.  Position  in  the  publication. 

7.  Names  and  trade-marks. — The  repetition  of  the 
trade-mark  or  the  name  of  the  article  or  of  the  manu- 
facturer in  aU  advertisements  is  too  common  a  method 
of  identification  to  need  illustration.  Altho  the  sub- 
ject of  names  and  trade-marks  is  fully  discussed  in 
the  Text  on  "Advertising  Principles,"  it  is  well  here 
to  warn  the  advertiser  of  the  necessity  of  simplicity. 
Many  advertisers  make  the  mistake  of  expecting 
the  reader  to  remember  too  much.  A  simple  name 
should  be  chosen,  and  yet  a  satisfactory  simple  name 
is  exceedingly  hard  to  find.  All  the  common  names 
have  been  preempted  long  ago.  There  are  over 
10,000  registered  names  for  brands  of  flour  alone. 
There  are  said  to  be  nearly  200  Star  brands  of  one 
kind  or  another  on  the  market  today.  There  are  over 
180  Standards,  over  50  O.  K.'s  and  44  Twentieth 
Centuries.  From  the  standpoint  of  registration  as 
well  as  from  the  standpoint  of  distinction,  it  is  often 
advantageous  to  choose  a  proper  name,  a  fanciful 


METHODS  OF  IDENTIFICATION  69 

name,  or  a  name  having  its  derivative  in  another  lan- 
guage, such  as  Kodak,  Phonograph,  Crisco  and  Crex. 
Uneeda  is  in  a  class  by  itself;  and  any  combination 
of  letters  to  sound  like  words,  even  if  it  can  be  regis- 
tered, seems  to  be  considered  by  the  general  public 
as  an  attempt  at  imitation  of  Uneeda.  This  may 
give  rise  to  confusion  and  misunderstanding.  In  the 
South,  when  the  negroes  wish  to  purchase  Takhomo 
biscuits,  they  often  say,  "Gimme  dat  Uneeda  biscuit 
in  d'  red  package." 

A  fanciful  or  new  name,  on  the  other  hand,  strikes 
the  public  so  unfamiliarly  as  to  require  a  distinct  ef- 
fort to  remember  and  pronounce  it.  Some  of  the  best 
names  are  those  which  thru  other  associations  have  be- 
come familiar,  and  are  not  exactly  descriptive  but 
may  at  least  be  called  relevant. 

Mr.  Edward  S.  Rogers,  lecturer  on  the  law  of  trade- 
marks at  the  University  of  Michigan,  tells  a  sfory  of 
a  housewife  who,  when  asked  in  court  how  she  usually 
called  for  a  certain  article,  replied,  "If  I  see  it,  I  point 
to  it,  but  if  I  don't  see  it,  even  if  I  have  taken  a  special 
trip  to  purchase  it,  I  don't  ask  for  it.  I  never  heard 
how  to  pronounce  it  and  I  don't  want  anyone  to  think 
I'm  a  fool."  To  its  manufacturer  the  name  of  this 
product  probably  seems  very  easy  to  pronounce.  An 
advertiser  has  no  right  to  expect  a  person  to  inquire 
the  correct  pronunciation  of  the  name  of  his  product. 
No  one  will  ever  know  how  much  business  some  con- 
cerns lose  because  the  names  of  their  products  are 
hard  to  pronounce  or  to  remembei. 


60  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

It  is  much  easier  to  say  "Tiffany's"  than  "Blank 
Manufacturing  Company."  An  example  of  the  short- 
ening of  a  firm  name  is  the  now  famous  "B.  V.  D."  A 
growing  custom  for  a  manufacturer  with  but  one 
product  is  to  include  the  name  of  the  product  in  the 
name  of  the  company  producing  it.  It  is  asking  the 
public  a  good  deal  more  to  remember  Munsingwear, 
made  by  the  Northwestern  Knitting  Company,  than 
it  is  to  remember  Cream  of  Wheat,  made  by  the 
Cream  of  Wheat  Company.  In  fact  the  advertising 
of  the  product  became  so  strongly  fixed  in  the  minds 
of  dealers  and  so  much  mail  was  wrongly  addressed 
that  in  1920  the  Northwestern  Knitting  Company 
dropped  the  old  company  name  which  it  had  used  for 
more  than  thirty  years  and  became  the  Munsingwear 
Corporation. 

8.  Typical  characters. — Well-known  examples  of 
typical  characters,  used  to  give  individuality  to  a  man- 
ufacturer's advertising,  are  the  Cream  of  Wheat  chef. 
Gold  Dust  Twins,  Swift's  Little  Cook,  the  Dutch 
Boy  Painter  and  the  Quaker  of  Quaker  Oats.  In 
adopting  a  trade  character  some  advertisers  overlook 
the  fact  that  the  public  is  not  prone  to  talk  about  the 
character  unless  the  character  has  a  name;  further- 
more, the  name  should  preferably  suggest  the  name 
of  the  thing  advertised.  The  Gold  Dust  Twins  are 
affectionately  known  by  that  title,  and  one  cannot 
think  of  them  without  thinking  also  of  Gold  Dust. 
We  knew  Phoebe  Snow,  but  we  may  have  had  to  think 
twice  to  connect  Phoebe  Snow  with  the  Lackawamia 


METHODS  OF  IDENTIFICATION  61 

Railroad.  The  negro  used  by  the  Cream  of  Wheat 
Company  has  not  been  given  a  name;  it  would  be 
easier  for  the  public  to  talk  about  him  if  he  had  a 
name,  stamped  perhaps  on  his  cap  or  apron. 

An  advertiser  must  remember  that  the  first  duty  of 
a  trade  character  is  to  identify  his  product.  Some 
people  attribute  the  comparative  failure  of  the  break- 
fast food,  "Force,"  to  the  fact  that  there  was  not 
in  the  minds  of  the  people  a  clear  relation  between 
Sunny  Jim  and  the  product  he  attempted  to  advertise. 

A  trade  character  should  be  distinctive.  Many  ad- 
vertisers attempt  to  use  photographs  of  little  girls  in 
connection  with  their  products.  Very  few  people 
recognize  these  as  typical  characters.  They  are  not 
sufficiently  distinctive.  Even  if  the  figure  of  a  girl 
or  woman  is  always  clothed  in  the  same  way,  unless 
the  dress  is  as  distinctive  as  the  dress  of  the  Old  Dutch 
Cleanser  character,  for  instance,  the  public  may  fail 
to  recognize  her. 

While  it  is  possible  to  move  the  character,  one  must 
be  careful  not  to  move  it  too  much.  The  character 
of  Sunny  Jim  was  first  used  in  the  street  cars  in  pro- 
file. When  the  magazine  advertising  commenced,  a 
front  view  was  shown  of  his  face,  and  the  public  be- 
came acquainted  with  him  all  over  again.  While  the 
Cream  of  Wheat  negro  is  always  shown  in  different 
positions,  you  have  never  seen  his  face  in  profile.  His 
head  is  moved,  but  his  expression  and  the  three-quar- 
ters view  of  his  face  have  never  been  altered.  Even 
to  change  his  face  to  a  full  front  view  would  prob- 

XIII— 6 


62  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

ably  make  him  look  like  another  character  to  the 
reader.  It  is  easier  to  identify  a  character  by  its  form 
and  by  its  clothing  than  by  the  eyes,  nose  and  mouth. 
From  this  standpoint,  the  Old  Dutch  Cleanser 
character  is  easier  to  recognize  than  the  pictures 
of  girls  which  are  used  to  advertise  Pompeian  toilet 
preparations. 

9.  When  typical  characters  are  inadvisable. — 
Recognition  of  trade  characters  depends  on  repetition. 
Some  local  advertisers  at  different  times  have  at- 
tempted to  use  such  characters,  but  have  found  their 
advertising  appropriations  were  not  extensive  enough 
to  force  the  characters  into  general  recognition. 
Once  a  character  is  adopted  for  a  particular  product, 
no  piece  of  advertising  for  that  product  should  be 
without  the  character.  It  is  necessary,  therefore,  for 
the  advertiser  to  consider  carefully  if  there  are  any 
cases  in  which  the  introduction  of  this  character  might 
embarrass  him.  Adopting  a  typical  character  for 
your  product  is  like  adopting  a  child  in  your  home. 
You  should  first  make  certain  that  the  child  is  or  will 
be  everything  you  expect  of  him  and  then  you  should 
treat  him  as  a  part  of  your  family. 

10.  Advantages  of  a  slogan. —  It  is  customary 
among  many  advertisers  to  pick  out  some  selling 
phrase  and  to  use  it  in  all  advertisements.  Some  ad- 
vertisers believe  a  slogan  is  only  a  clever,  flippant 
phrase  with  which  to  identify  a  product.  Others  base 
their  entire  sales  efforts  on  slogans.  Some  use  the 
same  phrase  indefinitely  thruout  the  life  of  a  business, 


METHODS  OF  IDENTIFICATION  63 

while  others  use  a  phrase  for  five  or  ten  years  and  then 
take  up  another  one. 

Gold  Medal  flour  has  spent  a  great  deal  of  money 
in  popularizing  slogans.  For  several  years  the  com- 
pany based  its  sales  efforts  on  the  slogan,  "When  you 
think  of  flour,  think  of  Gold  Medal."  Millions  of 
dollars  were  spent  to  enforce  this  one  command. 
After  about  ten  years  the  company  dropped  the  old 
slogan  and  introduced  a  new  one,  "Eventually — Why 
not  nowf  This  phrase  was  put  on  the  company's 
letterheads,  on  the  sacks  of  flour  and  on  every  piece 
of  advertising  emanating  from  the  company. 

If  anyone  doubts  the  power  of  slogans  to  identify 
products,  he  has  only  to  repeat  to  himself,  "It  floats,'* 
"Hammer  the  hammer,"  "Chases  dirt,"  "Ask  the 
man  who  owns  one,"  "One  of  the  57,"  and  see  if  in 
every  case  he  does  not  immediately  remember  the 
product  with  which  the  slogan  is  associated. 

11.  Typographical  means  of  identification. — Some 
advertisers  insist  that  all  their  advertising  be  set  in 
the  same  style  of  type,  or,  if  they  are  hand  lettered, 
that  the  style  of  lettering  be  always  the  same.  This  is 
particularly  noticeable  in  the  Tiffany  advertisements. 

Many  advertisers  in  striving  for  individuality  insist 
on  the  composition  of  all  their  advertisements  being 
exactly  the  same.  While  the  copy  is  changed,  the 
cuts  are  always  in  the  same  relative  position  and  there 
are  usually  the  same  general  blocks  of  type.  The 
Dodge  Brothers  automobile  has  been  advertised  in 
this  way. 


64  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

12.  Individual  style  in  illustrations  and  copy. — 
Some  advertisements  have  all  their  advertising  illus- 
trations made  by  the  same  illustrator.  The  illustra- 
tions by  J.  C.  Leyendecker  for  the  advertisements 
of  Arrow  Collars  have  given  individuality  to  this  ad- 
vertising which  is  immediately  recognized.  Even 
when  some  other  artist  has  been  employed  to  illustrate 
the  Arrow  advertisements,  he  has  been  expected  to 
follow  the  distinctive  Leyendecker  technique.  It  is 
thru  methods  such  as  this  that  an  advertiser  obtains 
"atmosphere"  for  his  advertisements. 

Uniformity  in  the  style  of  the  copy  is  also  used 
to  give  character  and  distinction.  Prince  Albert  to- 
bacco was  introduced  by  a  decidedly  distinctive  copy 
style.  Velvet  tobacco  has  a  different  style  which 
would  probably  be  recognized  and  attributed  to  Vel- 
vet Joe  even  if  it  should  be  copied  by  another  ad- 
vertiser. 

13.  Uniform  colors. — ^While  colors  other  than  black 
and  white  can  be  used  only  by  few  advertisers  in 
periodicals,  color  is  often  used  as  a  method  of  identi- 
fication in  outdoor  advertisements.  The  Coca-Cola 
Company  consistently  uses  the  same  color  for  the 
background  of  its  bulletin  boards,  and  the  Coca-Cola 
advertising  is  beginning  to  be  recognized  by  this  color 
combination. 

14.  Position  in  publications  as  a  means  of  identifi- 
cation— Another  way  to  identify  one's  advertising 
is  to  insist  on  its  being  placed  always  in  the  same  po- 
sition in  a  newspaper,  or  on  the  same  page  in  a  maga- 


METHODS  OF  IDENTIFICATION  65 

zine.  Some  advertisers  take  only  back  pages.  Some 
take  inside  covers,  and  others  take  the  first  and  second 
pages  of  all  publications.  The  Westclox  advertis- 
ing usually  appears  on  the  first  inside  page.  People 
have  begun  to  recognize  the  smiling  face  of  Big  Ben 
in  this  position.  The  advertising  manager  in  plan- 
ning the  first  campaign  contracted  for  space  a  year 
in  advance  in  order  to  be  able  to  secure  this  position. 
For  ten  years  with  two  exceptions  all  Cream  of  Wheat 
Company  magazine  advertisements  have  appeared  on 
the  second  cover  page. 

15.  lielative  value  of  different  methods  of  identifi- 
cation.— With  so  many  methods  of  identification  at 
his  command,  the  advertiser  is  confronted  with  the 
problem  of  which  to  choose  for  his  particular  purposes. 
The  problem  requires  individual  analysis  and  judg- 
ment. While  it  is  possible  to  use  many  methods  of 
identification  in  combination,  it  is  difficult  to  display 
a  name,  a  trade-mark,  a  slogan,  a  standardized  border, 
a  standardized  style  of  type,  and  all  the  other  dis- 
tinguishing features  of  an  advertisement  without  hav- 
ing one  overweigh  the  others.  Which  is  the  most  im- 
portant? The  only  satisfactory  answer  to  this  ques- 
tion comes  from  tests  of  advertisements  and  sales  over 
a  long  period  of  time  and  the  comparison  of  these  re- 
sults with  costs. 

Cheney  Brothers  of  South  ^lanchester,  Connecti- 
cut, makers  of  silk,  prepared  a  set  of  questions  in  re- 
gard to  nationally  advertised  products.  These  ques- 
tions were  asked  of  a  number  of  men  and  women  in 


66  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

the  employ  of  the  company  in  order  to  ascertain 
whether  it  is  easier  to  remember  an  article  when  the 
firm  name  is  emphasized,  when  the  name  of  the  prod- 
uct is  emphasized,  when  the  trade-mark  is  empha- 
sized or  when  a  slogan  is  emphasized.  The  questions 
which  were  the  basis  of  the  test  were : 

A. — What  are  the  products  manufactured  by  firms 
using  the  following  names:  Hamilton,  Oneida  Com- 
munity, Welch,  Peter's,  Gillette,  Ford,  etc. 

B. — What  are  the  following  products  and  who 
makes  them:  Bon  Ami,  Beaver  Board,  Nabisco, 
Pompeian,  Big  Ben,  Prince  Albert,  etc. 

C. — What  are  the  trade-marks  used  by:  Heinz, 
Old  Dutch  Cleanser,  National  Lamp  Company,  Skin- 
ner's Satin,  Beaver  Board,  etc. 

D. — Who  says:  "Ask  the  man  who  owns  one," 
*' Good-bye,  old  hook  and  eye,"  "Hammer  the  ham- 
mer," etc. 

These  tests  showed  that  the  question  most  generally 
answered  correctly  was  the  first,  "What  are  the  prod- 
ucts manufactured  by  firms  using  the  following 
names?"  A  smaller  number  of  people  could  identify 
the  slogans;  still  fewer  could  describe  trade-marks; 
and  the  smallest  number  of  all  gave  correct  answers  to 
the  question,  "What  are  the  following  products  and 
who  makes  them?"  This  test  was  conducted  on  a 
very  small  scale,  and  the  results  cannot  be  accepted  as 
establishing  definite  principles.  Nevertheless,  the 
test  is  interesting  as  indicative  of  the  advisability  of 
joining  the  firm  name  with  the  name  of  the  product. 


METHODS  OF  IDENTIFICATION  67 

In  this  test  the  answers  of  women  were  tabulated 
separately  from  the  answers  of  men.  In  most  cases 
there  was  little  difference  between  the  two  sexes; 
women,  however,  were  found  to  remember  slogans 
more  easily  than  men. 

REVIEW 

What  is  the  best  means  of  giving  individuality  to  the  product 
of  the  business  with  which  you  are  connected?  If  the  product 
is  service  instead  of  a  tangible  article,  are  there  any  ways  in 
which  the  service  can  be  given  that  kind  of  distinctiveness  which 
aids  the  public  in  recognizing  it? 

If  your  business  advertises,  or  were  to  advertise,  what  meth- 
ods of  giving  individuality  to  the  advertising  might  be  used? 
Why  is  it  a  good  thing  for  advertisements  to  have  individuality? 

'Under  what  conditions  is  it  possible  and  desirable  to  use  a 
trade  character? 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  ADVERTISING  DEPARTMENT 

1.  The  director  of  the  department. — Back  of  every 
advertising  campaign  there  should  be  one  man  who  is 
responsible  for  its  success.  His  title  may  be  advertis- 
ing manager,  marketing  manager,  advertising  coun- 
sel, sales  manager,  sales  and  advertising  manager, 
president,  general  manager,  merchandising  director, 
or  perhaps  something  different  from  any  of  these. 
But  whatever  his  title,  his  duty  is  to  devise  and  exe- 
cute ways  and  means  to  promote  the  business  thru 
publicity. 

Sometimes  one  individual  is  responsible  for  all  the 
sales  activities  of  a  business.  He  may  personally  su- 
pervise the  technique  of  advertising  as  well  as  the 
technique  of  personal  salesmanship,  or  else  he  may 
give  his  time  only  to  broad  marketing  problems,  leav- 
ing the  specific  direction  of  advertising  and  of  per- 
sonal salesmanship  to  subordinates  who  do  the  de- 
tailed work  of  an  advertising  and  sales  manager.  In 
other  cases,  there  is  no  one  officer  who  gives  his  time 
exclusively  to  all  the  marketing  problems  of  the  busi- 
ness ;  the  advertising  manager  and  the  sales  manager 
are  relatively  supreme  in  their  respective  fields,  and 
their  activities  are  harmonized  only  thru  their  volun- 

68 


THE  ADVERTISING  DEPARTMENT  69 

tary  cooperation  and  their  common  subordination  to 
a  general  manager  or  a  president,  who  finds  time, 
among  his  other  duties,  to  retain  broad  supervision  of 
marketing  procedure. 

2.  Attributes  of  advertising  manager. — The  ordi- 
nary title  of  the  man  who  directs  the  publicity,  regard- 
less of  whether  he  has  or  has  not  any  authority  over 
the  personal  salesmen,  is  advertising  manager,  and  it 
is  that  title  that  we  shall  use.  It  is  interesting  to  note 
some  of  the  ways  in  which  the  attributes  of  a  success- 
ful advertising  manager  differ  from  the  attributes  of 
the  man,  commonly  called  the  sales  manager,  who 
supervises  the  work  of  the  salesmen.  The  sales  man- 
ager is  responsible  each  month  and  each  week  for  the 
sales.  The  sales  manager  brings  in  the  harvest.  The 
advertising  manager  sows  the  seed.  He  must  have 
planned  far  ahead  in  his  work.  He  must  have  vision 
of  a  special  character  and  the  broadest  imagination. 
The  salesman  has  his  prospect  constantly  before  him ; 
he  can  change  his  line  of  argument  to  meet  conditions. 
The  advertising  man  must  imagine  all  conditions  and 
make  his  arguments  fit  these  conditions  in  advance. 

The  advertising  manager  must  have  the  power  of 
analysis.  He  must  be  able  to  weigh  values.  He 
must  understand  how  to  keep  the  big  idea  constantly 
in  mind,  and  yet  must  be  a  man  who  will  not  let  the 
detail  of  a  misspelled  word  escape  his  notice.  Mr. 
William  H.  Ingersoll,  marketing  manager  of  Robert 
H.  Ingersoll  k  Brother,  says:  "Little  as  it  is  recog- 
nized, advertising  is  one  of  the  four  or  five  great  uni- 


70  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

versal  arts,  and  of  these  it  is  the  most  difficult,  for 
not  only  does  it  require  practical  understanding  of 
human  nature  and  how  it  may  be  influenced,  but  also 
an  appreciation  of  several  other  arts,  including  those 
of  the  printer,  the  writer,  the  painter,  and  the  or- 
ganizer." 

The  advertising  manager  is  primarily  an  executive. 
He  must  understand  organization,  for  it  is  his  prov- 
ince to  deal  with  many  individuals  in  his  organization 
and  out.  Many  of  the  most  successful  advertising 
managers  have  never  written  a  line  of  copy  in  their 
lives.  They  edit  much  of  it  and  know  how  to  weigh 
values;  but  often  they  do  not  involve  themselves  with 
the  details  of  copy  writing. 

3.  Responsibility  for  the  advertising. — Few  things 
in  advertising  are  standardized;  there  are  few  prin- 
ciples to  apply.  Accordingly,  personal  judgment  is 
always  an  important  factor  in  deciding  on  the  details 
of  a  campaign.  It  is  natural,  therefore,  that  the 
owners  and  general  managers  of  a  business  should  be- 
lieve that  their  judgment  is  as  good  as  the  advertise- 
ing  manager's,  and  that  they  should  wish  to  super- 
vise many  of  his  functions  in  detail.  Where  this  nat- 
ural attitude  is  too  pronounced,  there  is  grave  danger 
3f  seriously  handicapping  the  advertising  manager 
by  permitting  the  active  interest  of  too  many  of  the 
company's  executives  in  the  conduct  of  the  adver- 
tising department.  Advertising  is  fascinating,  and 
everybody  likes  to  have  a  finger  in  it.  It  is  easy  for 
the  president  of  the  company  to  insist  on  the  necessity 


THE  ADVERTISING  DEPARTMENT  71 

of  his  approving  so  many  details  of  the  advertising 
that  the  advertising  manager  is  Hkely  to  ask  himself, 
"What  will  please  the  boss?"  rather  than,  "What  will 
make  customers?"  Many  advertising  campaigns 
have  failed  because  the  recommendations  of  the  ex- 
pert advertising  manager  have  been  altered  in  favor 
of  plans  based  merely  on  the  prejudices  and  personal 
opinions  of  his  superior  officers. 

Mr.  WiUiam  B.  Morris,  advertising  manager  of  the 
Munsing\vear  Corporation,  says:  "Advertising  is 
the  product  of  imagination,  of  courage,  and  of  other 
subtle,  almost  spiritual,  forces  which  make  it  nothing 
short  of  cruelty  to  subject  it  to  interference  from  those 
who  have  not  seen  the  development  of  the  idea  from 
the  moment  of  its  inception.  Yet  I  do  not  know  of 
any  department  of  any  business  which  receives  so 
much  direction  from  other  departments.  Advertise- 
ments are  the  representatives,  the  ambassadors  of  the 
organization,  and  they  should  express  the  policy  and 
the  spirit  of  that  organization  in  every  detail.  It  is 
right  that  'those  higher  up'  should  give  counsel,  but 
they  cannot  in  justice  to  themselves  give  attention  to 
details  unless  they  give  all  of  their  time  to  those  de- 
tails. The  conscientious  advertising  man  gets  much 
valuable  help  from  all  other  departments.  He  also 
gets  valuable  suggestions  from  children,  from  books 
and  from  his  recreations.  But  if  one  man  is  to  be 
respotisible  for  the  advertising,  no  one  by  interference 
should  relieve  him  of  that  responsibility." 

4.  Functions  of  an  advert ising  department. — An 


72  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

advertising  department  may  do  much  or  little.  It 
may  initiate  everything  that  is  done  in  the  advertising 
campaign,  or  it  may  simply  focus  things  initiated  by 
others.  It  may  work  wholly  by  itself,  or  it  may  lean 
heavily  on  the  advertising  agency.  Probably  no  two 
advertising  departments  do  exactly  the  same  thing. 
There  are  certain  activities,  however,  which  are  com- 
mon to  all  campaigns,  and  which  must  be  carried  on 
by  someone  either  in  the  department  or  out  of  it. 
These  things  are  properly  called  the  functions  of  an 
advertising  department — they  comprise  all  the  pos- 
sible lines  of  work  that  should  be  engaged  in  if  a  de- 
partment is  to  concern  itself  with  everything  that 
affects  the  advertising  campaign.  They  are  ten  in 
number : 

a.  Listing  advertising  arguments. 

The  advertising  manager,  thru  contract  with  the 
salesmen  and  dealers,  should  list  the  particular  argu- 
ments which  are  found  the  most  successful.  He  should 
gather  evidence  supporting  these  arguments  such  as 
testimonial  letters,  photographs  of  users  and  other 
such  material.  This  original  source  material  should  be 
kept  in  files  and  added  to  from  time  to  time  as  new  ex- 
periences are  reported  to  him. 

b.  Approving  advertisements. 

In  some  advertising  departments  the  follow-up  litera- 
ture is  written  by  the  advertising  manager's  assistant. 
In  others  it  is  prepared  by  the  agency.  In  either  case, 
the  advertising  manager  should  approve  the  copy  and 
the  details  of  the  layouts  and  illustrations. 

c.  Keeping  mailing  lists  up  to  date. 

The  advertising  manager  should  have  charge  of  all 
mailing  lists. 


THE  ADVERTISING  DEPARTMENT  73 

d.  Handling  the  distribution   of   all   circularizing  to  both 

dealers  and  consumers  and  distributing  dealer  helps 
such  as  signs,  window  trims,  etc. 

e.  Encouraging  dealers  to  cooperate  with  the  advertising. 

f.  Selling  the  advertising  plan  to  the  sales  organization. 

Advertising  managers  should  acquaint  each  salesman 
with  the  advertising  plan  so  the  salesman  should 
know  the  part  they  are  expected  to  play  and  talk  they 
are  expected  to  give  in  relation  to  the  advertising  ef- 
forts of  the  house. 

g.  Presenting  the  advertising  plan  at  the  Sales  Conventions. 

Some  advertising  managers  take  complete  charge  of 
the  arrangement  of  Sales  Conventions,  while  others  are 
assigned  only  certain  places  on  the  program. 

h.   Cooperation  with  the  sales  manager  in  special  sales  pro- 
motion work. 

Many  sales  drives  require  very  close  cooperation  be- 
tween the  sales  manager  and  the  advertising  manager. 
There  should  be  perfect  harmony  in  this  function. 

i.  Approving  and  o.k.ing  all  bills  for  advertising. 

j.  Keeping  records  of  the  results  of  advertising. 

5.  Systems  of  organization. — There  are  probably 
as  many  different  kinds  of  advertising  departments 
as  there  are  advertisers.  Each  has  its  own  organiza- 
tion particularly  adaj)ted  to  accomplish  the  work  de- 
sired. The  Sears,  Roebuck  advertising  department 
consists,  as  has  been  said,  of  about  1,500  people. 
The  advertising  department  of  the  International  Har- 
vester Company  consists  of  forty-three  people  in  the 
main  office  and  140  people  in  the  different  territories. 
Some  of  these  departments  are  managed  by  one  execu- 
tive who  O.  K.'s  all  activities  and  every  piece  of  copy 
that  goes  out,  while  others  are  conducted  by  commit- 
tees, and  all  final  decisions  are  made  in  conference. 


74 


ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 


REVISION  AND 

SUPERVISION 

OF  COPY 


LABELS! 

CARTONS 

roRMS,  ETC 


CREW  WORK 


Marketing  Department  Organization  of  Robert  H.  Ingersoll  &  Brol 


On  page  76  three  charts  are  reproduced  from 
Printers'  Ink,  showing  the  detailed  organization  of 
different  advertising  departments.  The  method  of 
organization  must  always  be  adapted  to  the  par- 
ticular requirements  of  the  business  that  the  adver- 
tising department  serves. 

6.  A  large  advertising  department. — To  indicate 
the  method  of  adapting  advertising  department  or- 
ganizations to  the  needs  and  peculiarities  of  the  busi- 
ness, we  have  chosen  a  large  and  a  small  advertising 
department  for  consideration.  The  Burroughs  Add- 
ing Machine  Company  is  an  extensive  advertiser  and 
uses  advertising  in  a  great  variety  of  ways  to  help 


THE  ADVERTISING  DEPARTMENT  75 

its  salesmen.  Its  advertising,  therefore,  is  inten- 
sively developed.  The  head  of  the  department  has 
described  his  work  as  follows: 

Our  advertising  department  is  organized  not  on  the  one 
cylinder  plan  but  as  closel}'  as  possible  on  a  twenty  cylinder 
plan.  It  is  our  idea  to  make  the  advertising  department  of 
ever-increasing  value  to  the  field  force  and  the  company, 
developing  each  man  to  his  utmost  capacity  for  all  round 
advertising  service.  Every  one  of  the  twenty  creative  men 
is  a  conferee,  and  all  the  activities  of  the  department  are 
managed  by  conferences.  The  titular  head  of  the  depart- 
ment is  just  one  of  the  conferees.  Three  men  of  the  adver- 
tising agency  are  also  full  members  of  the  conference. 
Strictly  speaking,  there  are  several  conferences.  The  Sen- 
ior Conference  consists  of  four  of  the  oldest  men  in  point 
of  service.  These  four  men  meet  every  day  to  consider  sug- 
gestions from  all  sources  and  decide  what  work  shall  be 
done.  Each  Senior  may  subdivide  his  work  among  any  of 
the  Juniors  of  the  department.  Thus  each  Junior  works  at 
times  with  each  Senior.  Junior  Conferences  are  held  often 
by  Seniors  to  consider  copy,  and  the  offer  of  a  piece  of  copy 
thus  gets  the  criticisms  and  suggestions  of  these  conferees. 
Once  a  month  there  is  a  full  conference  of  the  department 
with  the  advertising  agency,  at  which  every  phase  of  the 
agency  is  considered. 

We  have  in  creative  work  twenty  men;  in  clerical  work 
connected  with  the  creative  men,  six  men;  in  record  work — 
that  is,  taking  care  of  our  prospect  files,  addressing  and 
sending  out  advertising  matter — 109  people;  in  our  printing 
department,  which  is  now  doing  about  one-half  of  our  print- 
ing, thirty-three  people;  our  stock  department,  which  takes 
care  of  our  stock  of  advertising  matter,  stationery,  and 
printwl  matter  for  the  home  offices  and  branches,  five  people; 
buying  printed  matter,  engraving,  and  art  work,  two  men; 
a  total  of  175  people.  The  work  of  the  creative  men  is 
roughly  divided  into:  A.  Research:  that  is,  studying  in  the 
office  and  in  the  field  how  Burroughs  machines  are  used  in 


76 


ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 


TECHNICAL 

TRUCKS 

EDITORIAL 

ART 

P«H0T08 

MOVING 
PICTURES 

AS81S    ™. 

^ 

^^ 

^ 

..^ 

FILES 
MAILING 

STATIONERY 

MULTIGRAPH 

STOCK 

ADORESSOGRAPH 

STOCK  AND 
SHIPPING 


CUTS  AND 
PRINTING 


SALES  AND 
DEMONSTRATIONS 


COAL 

GAS 

AND 

ELECTRIC 

HOTEL 

FURNACE 

APPLIANCE 

WOOD 

APPLIANCE 

APPLIANCE 

CEPT. 

STOVE 
DEPT. 

DEPT. 

DEPT. 

DEPT. 

ASS'T  MG'R. 
CHICAGO 


STOCK  AND 
SHIPPING 


SALES  AND 
DEMONSTRATIONS 


ADVERTISING  MANAGER 


ASSISTANT  ADVERTISING  MANAGER 


PERSONA^  SERVICE 
0EPART^4ENT 


ADVERTISING  AGENCY 


PROMOTION 
DEPARTMEHT 


TRADE BLDG. 
DEP-T. 


ADVERTISING 

&  PRINTING 

DEP'T.  AT  OUR 

FACTORY 


THE  ADVERTISING  DEPARTMENT  77 

various  lines  of  business  on' various  sorts  of  work,  and  put- 
ting this  knowledge  into  printed  fonn.  B.  Publicity:  ad- 
vertising in  popular,  business,  and  banking  publications. 
C.  Direct  mail  advertising.  D.  Answering  inquiries.  E. 
Direct  advertising,  consisting  of  writing  articles  for  publica- 
tion in  all  sorts  of  house  organs  and  class  publications,  help- 
ing to  show  the  business  readers  of  these  publications  how 
they  can  know  more  about  their  business,  and  stimulating  a 
desire  for  this  knowledge. 

7.  Small  advertising  department. — A  much  more 
simple  organization  is  that  of  the  National  Veneer 
Products  Companj%  makers  of  Indestructo  trunks. 
The  general  manager  of  the  company  describes  the 
department: 

Our  national  advertising  is  handled  thru  our  agency  who 
prepare  the  copy  subject  to  the  writer's  O.K.,  and  place  it 
in  accordance  with  the  schedule  agreed  on  between  us  at  the 
beginning  of  the  year.  The  inquiries  received  as  a  result 
of  this  advertising  are  handled  by  two  of  our  stenographers 
who  send  out  a  carefully  prepared  form  letter  with  the  nec- 
essary literature.  The  names  are  entered  on  cards  and  filed 
for  follow-up  work.  A  series  of  four  letters  in  all  are  sent 
to  each  prospect.  The  record  of  the  inquiry  is  sent  to  the 
dealer  in  the  town  where  the  inquirer  resides,  with  a  return 
card  inclosed  in  order  that  we  may  be  advised  what  action 
has  been  taken  in  regard  to  the  inquiry.  Dealers'  inquiries 
are  handled  in  the  same  way,  another  series  of  letters  be- 
ing used. 

From  time  to  time  we  get  out  folders,  hanging  signs,  win- 
dow displays^  etc.,  which  are  generally  designed  and  ordered 
by  the  writer.  Samples  of  these  are  then  sent  to  our  deal- 
ers and  placed  in  the  hands  of  our  salesmen.  As  requests 
for  these  materials  come  in  from  our  dealers,  the  order 
is  made  out  and  is  sent  to  our  printer,  who  imprints  the 
folder,  or  whatever  it  is,  forwards  it  to  the  dealer,  sending 
us  a  memorandum  to  that  effect.     We  then  send  out  a  form 

XIII— 7 


78  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

letter  to  the  dealers  advising  -them  that  the  advertising 
matter  has  been  forwarded  and  asking  them  to  acknowledge 
receipt.  From  time  to  time  we  get  out  catalogs,  broadsides, 
folders,  etc.,  which  we  send  to  our  list  of  dealers.  These  are 
addressed  by  the  two  stenographers  in  the  department  from 
our  carefully  maintained  list  of  dealers. 

So  you  see  our  advertising  department  really  consists  of 
the  writer  and  two  girls  who  do  the  detail  work  for  him. 

'^  8.  Territorial  advertising  departments. — Some 
large  organizations  maintain  an  advertising  depart- 
ment at  the  home  office,  and  in  addition,  separate  de- 
partments in  each  of  the  branch  offices  or  territorial 
districts.  The  men  in  the  branch  advertising  depart- 
ments work  closely  in  cooperation  with  the  home  of- 
fice, and  usually  are  responsible  to  it.  Their  work  is 
chiefly  to  study  local  trade  conditions  and  to  prepare 
newspaper  and  circular  advertising  particularly 
adapted  to  these  conditions. 

The  advertising  departments  of  the  National  Lead 
Company  and  the  Sherwin-Williams  Paint  Company 
are  both  organized  in  this  way;  the  International 
Harvester  Company  also  follows  this  plan ;  the  Multi- 
graph  Sales  Company  and  the  Burroughs  Adding 
Machine  Company  introduced  territorial  advertising 
departments  in  1916  after  thoro  investigations  of  the 
opportunities  offered  by  such  a  plan.  In  large  or- 
ganizations in  which  many  campaigns  of  varying  na- 
tures are  being  pushed  at  the  same  time,  and  in  which 
a  close  touch  witH  the  sales  force  is  necessary,  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  territorial  method  of  organizing  the 
advertising  department  are  great. 


THE  ADVERTISING  DEPARTMENT  79 

9.  Cooperation  tcith  sales  department. — We  have 
said  that  sometimes  a  single  individual  is  in  charge 
both  of  advertising  and  of  the  salesmen.  This,  per- 
haps, is  the  ideal  method  of  obtaining  cooperation  be- 
tween selling  and  advertising,  but  it  is  an  ideal  that  is 
not  as  yet  often  realized.  Ordinarily  one  of  the  real 
problems  of  the  advertising  manager  is  to  develop 
plans  which  will  insure  the  salesmen's  cooperation 
with  the  advertising,  just  as  the  sales  manager  too 
often  finds  the  advertising  manager  lacking  in  ap- 
preciation of  sales  problems  and  sales  values.  There 
should  be  no  lack  of  harmony  between  the  salesmen 
and  the  advertising.  Advertising  is  merely  one  of 
the  factors  in  selling,  and  it  cannot  be  properly  con- 
ducted unless  selling  methods  and  selling  problems 
are  constantly  in  the  advertiser's  mind.  Mr.  L.  S. 
Hamilton,  of  the  National  Tube  Company,  says, 
"After  a  number  of  years  of  experience,  I  have  found 
one  thing,  namely,  that  the  big  thing  in  advertising 
isn't  copy  and  it  isn't  style  of  type;  neither  is  it  cuts 
or  booklets  or  anything  of  that  kind.  The  success 
or  failure  of  any  advertising  department  rests  on  its 
ability  to  connect  up  with  the  sales  idea." 

Jealousies  sometimes  arise  between  sales  managers 
and  advertising  managers  because  of  inadequate  con- 
ception of  the  close  connection  of  their  activities  and 
because  of  the  desire  of  one  or  the  other  to  get  per- 
sonal credit  for  all  that  is  accomplished  in  the  promo- 
tion of  sales.  The  advertising  manager  should  keep 
the  sales  department  closely  in  touch  with  all  that  he 


80  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

is  doing  and  planning  to  do,  and  the  sales  depart- 
ment should  give  him  all  the  information  he  needs, 
and  should  work  in  the  closest  harmony  with  him. 
Neither  department  should  plan  a  new  campaign  by 
itself;  new  plans  should  be  the  result  of  conference 
in  which  the  dovetailing  functions  of  advertising  and 
salesmanship  are  clearly  recognized. 

A  manufacturer  recently  spent  $5,000  in  one  month 
in  a  carefully  planned  localized  campaign.  When  the 
campaign  was  being  planned,  the  advertising  agent 
asked  about  the  sales  force,  and  was  told  that  the 
manufacturer  had  six  well-trained  salesmen  familiar 
with  the  trade  and  constantly  at  work.  The  advertis- 
ing manager  reported  that  he  had  carefully  outlined 
the  campaign  to  the  salesmen  and  that  each  under- 
stood his  part. 

Before  the  campaign  was  a  week  old  the  agent  be- 
came alarmed  at  the  meager  sales.  On  investigation, 
he  found  the  sales  force  of  six  had  dwindled  to  two, 
that  the  salesmen  were  working  on  a  flat  commission 
basis,  and  that,  instead  of  being  well-trained,  efficient 
men,  they  were  what  might  be  called  transient  sales- 
men. The  public  was  being  familiarized  with  the 
product,  but  no  one  was  selling  the  dealers.  Two  let- 
ters had  been  sent  to  dealers,  but  no  response  had  been 
received.  What  was  to  be  done?  Money  was  being 
spent  at  the  rate  of  $200  a  day  to  raise  the  plums,  yet 
there  was  no  one  to  pick  them.  Nearly  2,000  dealers 
had  to  be  sold  at  once,  altho  the  agent  had  been 
led  to  beheve  they  had  all  been  seen  before  the  cam- 


THE  ADVERTISING  DEPARTMENT  81 

>  paign  commenced.  In  desperation  the  agent,  step- 
^  ping  in  and  assuming  charge  of  the  selling  as  well  as 
the  advertising,  put  a  corps  of  girls  at  telephones  and 
instructed  them  to  call  up  the  2,000  dealers.  This 
was  a  desperate  and  almost  unheard-of  way  of  at- 
tempting to  obtain  distribution ;  but,  as  there  was  no 
time  then  to  train  new  salesmen,  as  the  girls'  voices 
were  more  pleasant  and  less  expensive  than  the  men's, 
and  as  the  girls  could  be  trained  for  telephone  solici- 
tations in  short  order,  it  seemed  the  only  way  to  save 
the  day.  The  results  were  better  than  was  thought 
possible.  The  advertising  had  been  so  effective  that 
a  mere  mention  of  the  proposition  to  the  dealers  se- 
cured more  than  a  twenty  per  cent  response.  If  this 
could  be  done  by  girls  over  the  telephone,  it  is  reason- 
able to  suppose  that  three  or  four  times  the  number  of 
orders  would  have  been  secured  by  a  sufficiently  large 
and  well-trained  force  of  salesmen,  and  this  result 
could  have  been  obtained  readily  had  the  sales  depart- 
ment cooperated  with  the  advertising  department. 

10.  Obtaining  first-hand  information  in  the  field. — 
While  some  advertising  managers  depend  entirely  on 
the  sales  department  and  on  conferences  with  sales- 
men for  their  knowledge  of  the  attitude  of  consumers 
and  dealers,  it  is  becoming  more  and  more  customary 
for  advertising  managers  to  travel  tliru  typical  ter- 
ritories and  obtain  first-hand  information  about  con- 
ditions with  which  they  must  be  familiar  if  they  are  to 
do  their  work  properly.  The  advertising  manager, 
to  get  a  clear  grasp  of  conditions,  sometimes  finds  it 


82  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

advisable  to  slip  away  for  awhile  from  his  office  and 
do  detective  work.  He  may  go  out  and  represent 
himself  as  a  salesman  in  order  to  get  a  clear  idea  of 
the  arguments  and  excuses  for  not  buying  which  con- 
stantly confront  the  salesman.  He  may  ask  of  the 
dealer  the  privilege  of  going  behind  the  counter  and 
selling  to  customers,  that  he  may  obtain  a  clearer  idea 
of  the  attitude  of  the  typical  consumer. 

11.  The  advertising  department  and  the  advertis- 
ing agency. — In  the  next  chapter  we  are  to  discuss  the 
functions  of  the  advertising  agency  and  its  relations  to 
the  advertising  department  of  its  clients,  but  it  is 
proper  here  to  mention  the  much-discussed  problem  of 
the  advisability  of  doing  without  an  advertising  de- 
partment entirely  when  an  agency's  services  are  used. 
Business  men  often  ask  the  question,  "If  I  can  get 
an  advertising  agency  to  write  and  place  my  adver- 
tising, and  if  the  services  of  the  agency  are  paid  for 
by  the  publisher,  why  do  I  need  an  advertising  man- 
ager or  an  advertising  department?"  A  large  na- 
tional advertiser  spending  in  excess  of  a  million  dol- 
lars a  year  and  employing  about  seventy-five  people 
in  his  advertising  department,  turned  his  department 
over,  a  few  years  ago,  to  his  advertising  agency. 
While  the  department  was  conducted  on  the  premises 
of  the  manufacturer,  the  employes  were  all  hired,  paid 
and  supervised  by  the  advertising  agent.  The  plan 
was  given  a  fair  test.  It  was  found  impracticable. 
The  advertising  agent  lost  the  account,  and  the  adver- 
tiser found  that  it  was  necessarv  to  re-establish  an 


THE  ADVERTISING  DEPARTMENT  83 

advertising  department  responsible  to  him  and  not 
responsible  to  the  agent. 

As  we  have  already  shown  in  this  chapter,  an  ad- 
vertising department  must  have  definite,  concrete 
functions  of  its  own.  It  must  be  constantly  in  touch 
with  the  sales  force.  It  must  be  responsible  for  the 
records  and  the  detail  of  following  up  inquiries.  It 
must  prepare  literature  for  dealers  and  for  consumers. 
It  must  be  a  distinct  and  definite  working  cog  in  the 
machinery  of  the  business  itself.  No  matter  how  im- 
portant the  services  of  the  advertising  agency  may  be, 
an  advertiser  cannot  expect  to  take  full  advantage  of 
those  services  without  people  in  his  own  organiza- 
tion to  do  the  many  things  for  his  business  that  an  out- 
sider, even  when  he  is  well  informed  and  eager  to 
serve,  cannot  be  expected  to  do  so  well. 

REVIEW 

Why  is  it  dangerous  to  have  more  than  one  final  judge  of  ad- 
vertising in  a  business?     Who  should  he  be? 

To  what  extent  should  the  advertising  manager's  decisions 
regarding  an  advertising  campaign  be  subject  to  approval  by  a 
superior  ? 

In  the  business  with  which  you  are  most  familiar  is  there  com- 
plete cooperation  between  the  salesmen  and  the  advertising  de- 
partment?    If  not,  how  could  this  cooperation  be  obtained? 

Is  the  advertising  department  in  your  business  so  carefully 
organized  that  you  can  make  a  chart  of  it?  Difficulty  in  chart- 
ing an  organization  usually  indicates  looseness  of  structure;  i.e., 
absence  of  clear  lines  of  responsibility  and  authority. 

What  mental  qualities  should  an  advertising  manager  possess? 
Do  you  possess  them?     Could  you  develop  them? 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  ADVERTISING  AGENCY 

1.  What  an  advertising  agency  is. — In  the  broad- 
est use  of  the  term,  an  advertising  agency  is  an  organ- 
ization of  merchandising  and  advertising  experts  who 
assist  business  houses  in  planning  and  carrying  out 
advertising  and  sales  campaigns.  The  advertising 
agent  is  a  professional  man.  He  resembles  a  physi- 
cian in  that  his  training  and  experience  enable  him  to 
diagnose  business  troubles  and  to  prescribe  remedial 
measures.  He  resembles  a  lawyer  in  that  he  outlines 
a  plan  of  campaign  for  his  client  and  then  pleads  his 
client's  case  before  the  court  of  the  people.  His  or- 
ganization is  a  store-house  of  information  regarding 
the  pulling  power  of  different  advertising  media,  dif- 
ferent copy,  and  different  merchandising  methods ;  he 
is  expected  to  have  all  advertising  principles  and  prac- 
tices at  his  finger  tips,  and,  after  careful  study,  to  be 
able  to  prescribe  for  any  set  of  conditions  the  market- 
ing methods  that  will  bring  the  best  results. 

The  American  Association  of  Advertising  Agencies 
has  given  the  following  definition  of  agency  service : 

"Agency  Service  consists  of  interpreting  to  the  public, 
or  to  that  part  of  it  which  it  is  desired  to  reach,  the  advan- 
tages of  a  product  or  service. 

84 


THE  ADVERTISING  AGENCY  86 

Interpreting  to  the  public  the  advantages  of  a  product 
or  service  is  based  upon: 

1.  A  study  of  the  product  or  service  in  order  to  determine 
the  advantages  and  disadvantages  inherent  in  the 
product  itself,  and  in  its  relation  to  competition. 

2.  An  analysis  of  the  present  and  potential  market  for 
which  the  product  or  service  is  adapted: 

As  to  location 

As  to  the  extent  of  possible  sale 

As  to  season 

As  to  trade  and  economic  conditions 

As  to  nature  and  amount  of  competition. 

3.  A  knowledge  of  the  factors  of  distribution  and  sales 
and  their  methods  of  operation. 

4.  A  knowledge  of  all  the  available  media  and  means 
which  can  profitably  be  used  to  carry  the  interpreta- 
tion of  the  product  or  service  to  consumer,  wholesaler, 
dealer,  contractor,  or  other  factor.  This  knowledge 
covers : 

Character 

Influence     Quantity 

Circulation     Quality 

Physical  Requirements    .  .Location 
Costs 

Acting  on  the  study,  analysis  and  knowledge  as  explained 
in  the  preceding  paragraphs,  recommendations  are  made  and 
the  following  procedure  ensues : 

6.  Formulation  of  a  definite  plan. 

6.  Execution  of  this  plan: 

(a)  Writing,  designing,  illustrating  of  advertise- 
ments, or  other  appropriate  forms  of  the  mes- 
sage. 

(b)  Contracting  for  the  space  or  other  means  of 
advertising. 

(c)  The  proper  incorporation  of  the  message  in 
mechanical  form  and  forwarding  it  with  proper 
instructions  for  the  fulfilment  of  the  contract. 


86  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

(d)  Checking  and  verifying  of  insertions,  display  or 
other  means  used, 

(e)  The  auditing,  billing  and  paying  for  the  service, 
space  and  preparation, 

7.  Cooperation  with  the  sales  work,  to  insure  the  greatest 
effect  from  advertising. 

2.  What  an  advertising  agency  does. — Advertising 
agencies  differ  greatly  in  their  activities.  Some  do 
many  things;  some  do  only  a  few.  Some  concern 
themselves  with  all  phases  of  a  client's  marketing 
problems;  others  confine  their  efforts  to  advertising 
alone.  An  agency  that  is  completely  organized  to 
give  advice  regarding  all  phased  of  the  distribution  of 
a  client's  products  and  to  handle  as  many  details  of 
his  entire  sales  campaign  as  he  may  wish  to  leave  to 
the  agency,  ordinarily  is  equipped  to  do  the  following 
things : 

First,  the  agency  makes  a  careful  study  of  the  thing 
to  be  sold — its  quality,  as  determined  both  by  technical 
and  by  practical  tests,  the  conditions  under  which  it  is 
manufactured,  the  sources  of  raw  material,  plant  ca- 
pacity, labor  supply  and  costs  of  production ;  the  capi- 
tal of  the  business  and  the  amount  that  can  properly 
be  invested  in  selling  activity ;  the  trade  name  and  the 
trade-mark,  with  suggestions  for  changes  if  changes 
are  desirable;  the  package,  with  particular  reference  to 
advertising  value  and  to  convenience  in  handling ;  and 
the  selling  points.  It  then  makes  an  equally  careful 
study  of  the  market  and  the  nature  of  the  demand, 
finding  out  who  tlie  people  are  toward  whom  the  sales 


THE  ADVERTISING  AGENCY  87 

effort  should  be  directed,  where  they  live,  how  they 
live,  when  they  buy,  how  they  buy,  how  much  they  will 
buy  and  from  whom  they  buy,  with  an  intensive  in- 
vestigation of  competition  in  all  its  phases.  Next  the 
agency  studies  the  sales  channels  used  by  its  client  or 
that  might  be  used  by  him,  basing  its  recommendations 
on  complete  knowledge  of  the  relations  among  manu- 
facturers, jobbers,  retailers  and  other  middlemen,  and 
determining  for  each  particular  product  the  best  chan- 
nels of  trade  from  manufacturer  to  consumer.  Fol- 
lowing this  the  agency  turns  its  attention  to  the  price 
at  which  the  product  is  to  be  sold  and  the  sales  policies 
to  be  followed — including  such  problems  as  credit,  dis- 
counts, price  maintenance,  guarantees  and  service. 

After  all  this  preliminary  investigation  and  study, 
the  con>pletely  equipped  agency  will,  if  the  client 
wishes,  aid  in  the  organization  or  reorganization  of  the 
sales  force,  giving  advice  and  active  help  in  all  the 
many  problems  of  sales  management.  Coincident 
with  this,  the  agency  studies  the  copy  problems  of  the 
advertiser,  and  writes,  or  assists  in  writing,  the  ad- 
vertisements, obtains  illustrations  for  them,  attends 
to  having  the  finished  advertisements  electrotyped, 
selects  the  media  to  be  used,  sends  the  copy  or  the 
electrotyped  plates  to  the  periodicals  selected,  makes 
arrangements  for  all  out-door  and  street-car  advertis- 
ing and  checks  the  advertisements  as  they  appear. 
Then  come  the  important  problems  of  coordinating 
tlie  advertising  with  the  work  of  the  salesmen,  or  get- 
ting distribution  among  dealers  and  inducing  them 


88  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

to  cooperate  in  the  campaign.  This  last  problem 
involves  the  preparation  of  all  sorts  of  dealer  helps — • 
store  signs,  window  displays,  circulars,  novelties,  etc. 
The  agency  will  also  prepare  direct  advertising  both 
to  dealers  and  consumers,  in  the  form  of  catalogs, 
house  organs,  sales  letters,  mailing  cards  and  other 
kinds  of  direct  sales  helps.  Finally,  the  agency  either 
keeps  careful  records  of  the  results  of  all  the  sales 
producing  activity,  or  it  advises  and  helps  the  client 
in  keeping  such  records. 

3.  History  of  the  advertising  agency. — The  first  ad- 
vertising agency  was  established  in  1840  in  Philadel- 
phia, by  V.  B.  Palmer.  In  1899,  there  were  forty-one 
advertising  agents.  Today  there  are  approximately 
300  "recognized"  agencies,  while  there  are  probably 
150  other  concerns  attempting  to  conduct  an  agency 
business,  but  not  receiving  what  is  called  "recognition" 
from  any  publishers'  association.  In  addition,  there 
are  probably  a  thousand  other  individuals  and  organ- 
izations, who  in  limited  fields  of  merchandising,  copy 
and  art  assist  advertisers  with  their  campaigns. 

In  the  beginning,  the  business  of  the  advertising 
agent  was  very  simple.  He  obtained  permission  to 
represent  a  list  of  newspapers,  and  called  on  pros- 
pective advertisers  persuading  them  to  "place  their 
card"  in  a  number  of  these  newspapers.  In  those 
days,  the  papers  for  the  most  part  had  no  established 
rates;  the  agent  would  make  a  rate  to  suit  himself, 
paying  the  publisher  as  small  a  proportion  of  the 
amount  collected  as  he  could  persuade  him  to  take. 


THE  ADVERTISING  AGENCY  89 

If  the  advertiser  neglected  to  pay  the  agent,  the  agent 
was  not  held  responsible  for  the  space  used. 

In  the  early  days,  the  basis  of  charge  for  advertis- 
ing space  was  the  "square."  The  publisher  would 
divide  a  column  into  so  many  squares  in  which  would 
be  placed  advertising  "cards."  The  copy  was  seldom 
changed.  In  fact,  some  advertisements  were  used 
without  change  for  from  twenty  to  thirty  years.  The 
reader  may  recall  "squares"  used  for  long  terms  of 
years  without  substantial  change  of  copy  by  Royal 
Baking  Powder  and  Lea  &  Perrins  Worcestershire 
Sauce. 

In  1865,  George  P.  Rowell  established  himself  as 
an  advertising  agent,  and  it  was  he  who  introduced 
the  plan  of  buying  from  the  publishers  a  column  or 
more  of  space  in  a  list  of  100  newspapers,  dividing 
this  into  inch  squares,  taking  full  responsibility  for 
payment,  and  on  his  own  terms  selling  the  inch 
squares  to  advertisers  on  annual  contract.  Some  of 
this  retailing  of  space  was  continued  up  to  as  late  as 
the  beginning  of  the  twentieth  century.  A  few  peo- 
ple still  believe  that  an  agency  is  a  dealer  and  has  on 
hand  contracts  for  space  which  he  must  use  within  a 
specified  time  and  which  he  is,  therefore,  willing  to 
sell  at  reduced  rates.  Advertising  agents  no  longer 
operate  in  this  way.  The  modern  agency  represents 
no  particular  media.  It  represents  primarily  its  cli- 
ents' interest,  and  places  advertisements  only  in  those 
media  that  can  do  the  most  to  aid  in  the  sale  of  its 
clients'  goods. 


90  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

While  the  advertising  agent  has  guaranteed  pay- 
ment for  the  space  used  by  his  clients  ever  since  the 
time  of  the  Civil  War,  and  has  written  cqt  y  and 
placed  advertising  from  the  beginning,  it  was  not 
until  about  1900  that  agencies  established  their  own 
art  departments  and  began  to  render  the  general 
merchandising  service  that  many  of  them  render  to- 
day. 

4.  Publishers'  representatives, — The  early  agent, 
of  whom  Mr.  Rowell  was  a  type,  in  buying  space  in 
selected  papers  and  selling  only  that  space,  exercised 
a  function  of  the  modern  "publisher's  representative." 
A  publisher's  representative  is  the  appointed  repre- 
sentative of  one  or  more  publishers.  It  is  his  duty, 
in  a  certain  territory,  to  call  on  advertising  agents  and 
on  advertisers,  presenting  the  merits  of  the  publica- 
tions he  represents,  and  endeavoring  to  induce  agents 
and  their  clients  to  place  their  advertisements  in  those 
publications. 

5.  Agency's  service  to  imhlisher. — Altho  the  pub- 
lishers of  some  classes  of  periodicals  do  not  "recog- 
nize" advertising  agencies,  most  publishers  welcome 
the  services  of  the  agent  and  are  glad  to  have  him 
act  as  a  valuable  middleman  between  themselves  and 
their  advertisers.  One  reason  for  this  is  that  pub- 
lishers cannot  keep  as  closely  in  touch  with  their  ad- 
vertisers as  the  agency  can;  also,  it  is  much  easier 
for  a  publisher  to  handle  the  accounts  of  a  few  agents 
than  it  would  be  to  carry  the  accounts  of  many  in- 
dividual advertisers.     One  publisher  finds  that  ninety 


THE  ADVERTISING  AGENCY  91 

per  cent  of  the  accounts  he  receives  from  the  agencies 
are  paid  promptly  every  month,  while  only  forty-eight 
per  cent  of  the  accounts  he  receives  direct  from  ad- 
vertisers are  paid  in  this  way. 

The  agency  frequently  saves  the  publisher  from 
loss.  As  the  agent's  success  depends  on  the  success 
of  his  clients,  he  keeps  advertisements  out  of  publi- 
cations where  they  would  be  likely  to  be  unproduc- 
tive. This  keeps  down  the  publishers'  advertising 
death  rate.  So  highly  do  most  publications  regard 
the  services  of  the  agent  that,  when  a  publisher  is  ap- 
])roached  by  a  new  advertiser  who  is  not  represented 
by  an  agent,  the  publisher  will  frequently  send  him 
to  one  for  expert  service  for  much  the  same  reason 
that  a  court  appoints  an  attorney  for  a  defendant  who 
lias  no  legal  representative  to  plead  for  him. 

The  chief  service  of  the  advertising  agent  to  the 
publisher,  however,  is  his  ability  to  create  business. 
The  good  advertising  agency  is  one  of  the  real  con- 
structive forces  in  American  business.  The  agent  is 
always  on  the  lookout  for  new  inventions  and  for 
new  organizations  with  possibilities  of  growth.  He 
nuist,  of  necessity,  be  optimistic;  he  must  have  vision. 
He  continually  preaches  advertising  and  its  possibili- 
ties. He  studies  it  in  all  its  forms;  he  believes  in 
it  and  he  impresses  his  belief  upon  others.  Cer- 
tainly a  large  proportion  of  the  advertising  carried 
by  magazines  and  newspapers  would  never  appear 
were  it  not  for  the  work  of  the  agent  in  seeking  out 
possible  advertisers,  studying  their  business,  smooth- 


92  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

ing  out  difficulties,  "selling"  the  idea  of  advertising 
to  the  hesitating  manufacturer,  and  finally  carrying 
the  great  burden  of  the  actual  details  of  the  adver- 
tising campaign..  - 

6.  Agency's  service  to  advertisers. — The  advertis- 
ing agent,  as  has  already  been  demonstrated,  is  in  a 
position  to  do  many  things  for  an  advertiser.  Agents 
speak  of  "developing"  an  account.  For  example,  aa 
advertising  agent  will  sometimes  render  service  and 
advice  for  a  year  or  two  before  any  advertising  is 
placed.  He  may  find  many  things  in  the  organization 
needing  correction  before  proper  advantage  may  be 
taken  of  the  advertising.  Perhaps  the  advertiser's 
package  is  not  sufficiently  distinctive.  Perhaps  his 
plan  of  selling  is  not  adaptable  to  larger  fields^ 
Whatever  it  is  in  the  organization  that  is  an  obstacle 
to  its  large  success,  the  province  of  the  advertising 
agent  is  to  find  the  trouble  and  to  tell  the  advertiser 
how  to  remedy  it. 

The  agent  is  constantly  pointing  to  larger  things. 
His  province  is  similar  to  that  of  the  wife  of  a  suc- 
cessful man.  She  encourages  him;  she  inspires  him. 
She  helps  him  with  the  little  things.  Her  greatest 
ambition  is  that  he  succeed.  But,  when  he  does  suc- 
ceed, she  must  not  claim  credit  for  his  accomplish- 
ments. His  very  success  depends  on  the  world's  rec- 
ognition of  his  having  done  it  himself.  Many  agents 
have  lost  accounts  which  they  have  developed  because 
of  too  much  "crowing." 

The  advertising  agency's  first  function  is  that  of 


TPIE  ADVERTISING  AGENCY  93 

an  adviser.  Most  agents  do  not  accept  competing 
accounts.  They  stake  their  success  on  the  success  of 
the  advertiser,  and  help  him  fight  his  battles  with  his 
competitors.  Just  as  in  the  case  of  the  doctor  and 
the  lawyer,  the  more  frank  one  is  with  his  adviser 
the  more  intelligent  is  the  advice  he  receives. 

The  story  is  told  of  a  manufacturer  with  a  new 
product  for  which  he  was  willing  to  spend  $100,000 
in  advertising.  He  called  on  an  agent  and  asked  for 
advice  regarding  the  best  way  to  spend  the  money. 
The  agent  investigated  the  product,  the  possible  de- 
mand and  the  competition.  He  told  the  manufac- 
turer that  in  his  opinion  the  investment  would  not  be 
a  profitable  one  and  advised  him  not  to  advertise. 
The  manufacturer  went  to  another  agent  and  re- 
ceived the  same  advice.  In  all  he  went  to  six  agen- 
cies, ready  to  place  his  $100,000  in  their  hands,  and 
in  each  case  was  told  to  keep  his  money. 

For  a  time  the  patent  medicine  advertisers,  the 
liquor  advertisers  and  a  few  of  the  railroads  felt  that 
by  placing  their  advertisements  direct  with  the  pub- 
lishers, they  were  in  a  better  position  to  influence  the 
editorial  columns  and  to  censor  news  and  editorial 
matter  that  might  hurt  their  businesses.  As  the  pub- 
lishers have  become  stronger  in  their  determination 
not  to  let  the  advertising  columns  influence  the  edi- 
torial columns,  and  as  the  agencies  have  become 
stronger  in  the  volume  of  business  given  to  the  pub- 
lishers, advertisers  have  realized  that  if  their  claims 
for  or  against  editorial  discrimination  are  just,  the 

XIII— s 


94  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

influence  of  the  agency  on  the  publisher  is  greater 
than  the  influence  of  any  individual  advertiser  could 
be. 

7.  The  outsider's  viewpoint. — The  advice  rendered 
by  the  agent  is  valuable,  •  partly  because  it  is  based 
on  his  own  experience,  his  records  of  the  experiences 
of  others  and  his  knowledge  of  merchandising  meth- 
ods. But  it  is  valuable  also  because  the  agent  brings 
to  any  advertiser's  problems  the  outsider's  viewpoint. 
It  is  said  that  a  doctor  cannot  diagnose  his  own  case. 
Similarly,  a  manufacturer  becomes  involved  in  the 
details  of  his  business  and  in  his  fight  against  competi- 
tion, and  it  is  hard  for  him  to  see  his  business  as  a 
part  of  the  great  distributive  system.  The  advertis- 
ing manager  represents  the  business  from  the  inside. 
The  advertising  agent  represents  the  public  as  related 
to  that  business.  The  manufacturer  considers  his 
product  as  something  to  sell.  The  agent  considers  the 
product  as  something  to  buy. 

8.  How  agencies  are  organized. — The  advertising 
agency  is  a  group  of  specialists,  each  one  devoting  his 
life  to  the  study  of  his  branch  of  the  many  problems 
in  relation  to  advertising.  Every  agency  has  in 
theory  at  least  three  main  divisions: 

1.  Sales  or  promotion  department 

2.  A  creative  or  production  department  for  the 
preparation  of  advertisements 

3.  An  operating  department  for  the  purpose  of 
estimating,  ordering,  accounting,  checking  and  bill- 
ing. 


THE  ADVERTISING  AGENCY  95 

Tlie  chart  in  the  Appendix,  page  319,  shows  how 
these  departments  coninuinicate  with  each  other  and 
how  each  works  for  the  interest  of  the  advertiser. 

The  service  manager  or  account  executive  has  con- 
stant contact  with  the  advertiser.  He  is  a  man  ex- 
perienced in  planning  advertising  campaigns  and  in 
mercliandising  problems.  Usually  the  service  man- 
ager handles  accounts  which,  while  in  no  way  com- 
peting, are  similar  in  merchandising  problems.  For 
instance,  an  agency  will  have  service  managers  each 
specializing  on  food,  agricultural,  mail  order,  clothing, 
building  material,  office  appliance  and  technical  ma- 
chinery advertising.  Each  one  of  these  men,  thru 
contact  with  his  particular  industry,  becomes  a  spe- 
cialist in  that  particular  division  of  business  and  fur- 
nishes the  production  or  creative  departments  with 
the  merchandising  information  on  which  to  build  the 
campaign. 

In  most  agencies  there  are  five  purely  creative  de- 
partments, the  copy  department,  the  art  department 
and  the  material  department  which  make  up  one  group 
of  purely  creative  function  and  the  research  and  media 
departments  whose  province  it  is  to  collect  and  weigh 
information  for  use  by  the  Plan  Board. 

Agencies  are  in  the  habit  of  calling  conferences 
constantly  and  usually  no  new  subject  is  taken  up 
without  having  a  conference  in  which  each  group  of 
specialists  is  represented.  At  these  conferences  the 
experiences  of  all  of  the  members  of  the  Plan  Board 
are  gathered  together  and  the  judgment  is  a  judgment 


96  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

of  specialists.  The  sales  manager  furnishes  his  ex- 
perience from  the  standpoint  of  sales ;  the  service  man- 
ager furnishes  his  experience  from  the  standpoint  of 
merchandising;  the  research  department  furnishes  its 
records  from  the  library  and  from  the  results  of  field 
investigations;  the  copy  department  gives  its  angle 
from  the  standpoint  of  the  psychological  appeal;  the 
art  department  states  whether  or  not  the  idea  may  be 
visualized  and  presents  rough  sketches  of  its  sug- 
gestions as  to  the  best  plan  of  presenting  the  message 
in  the  most  attractive  form ;  the  material  department, 
whose  duty  it  is  to  prepare  the  engravings,  the  com- 
position, the  printing  and  the  electrotypes,  considers 
the  problem  in  relation  to  its  mechanical  limitations 
and  the  media  department  furnishes  information  as  to 
the  most  economical  media  in  relation  to  circulation 
and  the  past  experience  of  the  agency. 

9.  How  an  agency  works. — The  chart,  on  page  320, 
shows  the  simplest  steps  undertaken  by  the  average 
agency  in  conducting  an  advertising  campaign  for  a 
client.     The  four  main  steps  are : 

A.  Investigating  or  obtaining  all  the  information 

necessary  in  order  to  make  an  intelligent 
plan 

B.  Planning 

C.  Producing  or  creating  the  advertisements 

D.  Operating  or  taking  care  of  the  financial  side 

of  the  transaction  and  recording  results. 


THE  ADVERTISING  AGENCY  97 

The  conscientious  advertising  agent  will  make  no 
recommendations  until  the  organization  has  made  a 
complete  study  of  the  problem.  He  does  not  even 
answer  hypothetical  questions,  to  say  nothing  of  writ- 
ing copy  and  preparing  sketches,  until  every  source 
of  information  has  been  tapped  and  all  of  the  in- 
formation so  obtained  has  been  carefully  analyzed. 
Not  only,  as  said,  do  very  few  agencies  accept  compet- 
ing accounts  but  most  agencies  exercise  the  greatest 
care  and  the  utmost  caution  in  selecting  clients  for 
whom  they  are  to  conduct  campaigns. 

Before  active  solicitation  has  commenced,  the  mem- 
bers of  the  agency,  usually  the  manager  of  sales,  the 
president  of  the  company,  and  the  service  manager 
who  would  handle  the  account,  as  well  as  the  credit 
man  of  the  agency,  have  a  conference  as  to  the  de- 
sirability of  the  account  and  the  possibility  for  suc- 
cess. In  some  organizations  definite  action  is  taken 
by  the  Xew  Business  Board  before  an  account  is 
solicited. 

10.  Obtaining  information  for  the  campaign. — 
When  the  sales  manager  has  closed  the  contract  with 
the  client,  he  then  introduces  the  agency's  service  man- 
ager who  is  to  have  charge  of  the  account.  This  officer 
proceeds  to  make  arrangements  for  the  investigation. 
Many  agencies  have  a  definite  outhne  of  questions 
which  in  most  cases  will  furnish  the  information  de- 
sired. These  lists  of  questions  are  much  like  the 
diagnosis  sheet  of  a  physician.  They  scrutinize  every 
detail  of  the  client's  business  and  weigh  each  with 


98  ADVERTISING   CAMPAIGNS 

respect  to  competition.  There  are  four  sources  from 
which  the  agenc}^  obtains  answers  to  the  inquiries  that 
compose  its  questionnaire. 

First,  the  client's  own  organization,  and  before  com- 
plete answers  are  secured  the  agency  will  have  in- 
terviewed the  heads  of  most  of  the  departments.  The 
second  step  in  investigating  is  to  gather  together  all 
of  the  information  in  the  agency's  library  in  relation 
to  the  particular  industry.  Here  the  agency  has  in- 
dexed records  of  all  successful  advertising  campaigns 
conducted  in  that  industry.  It  also  has  information 
in  relation  to  specific  markets  and  the  number  and 
kind  of  distributors.  After  the  library  investigation, 
the  head  of  the  research  department  and  the  service 
manager  who  is  to  handle  the  account  determine  on 
whatever  field  investigations  may  be  necessary. 
These  consist  of  calls  on  consumers,  dealers,  distribu- 
tors and  other  groups  which  influence  sales  in  an  effort 
to  obtain  their  answers  to  the  same  fundamental  ques- 
tions. At  the  same  time  that  the  field  investigation 
is  being  conducted,  the  agencj^  is  gathering  together 
proofs  of  all  advertisements  of  the  client  and  of  his 
competitors,  records  of  the  advertising  which  each  has 
done  in  the  past  and  records  of  the  follow-up  which 
each  conducts  on  each  group  to  which  the  advertising  is 
directed. 

11.  Planning  the  campaign. — When  the  research 
department  has  furnished  the  results  of  these  four 
kinds  of  investigations  to  the  service  manager,  he  then 
asks  for  a  meeting  of  the  Plan  Board  and  presents 


THE  ADVERTISING  AGENCY  99 

the  findings.  The  details  of  the  plan  may  differ  with 
accounts  and  may  differ  with  agencies.  Some  prefer 
to  make  the  illustrations  first;  others  prefer  to  write 
the  copy  before  having  it  illustrated.  Still  others 
prefer  a  combination  of  both  methods,  writing  only 
one  piece  of  copy  to  show  style.  At  the  plan  con- 
ference the  dominant  idea  of  each  class  advertising  is 
determined  and  the  Plan  Board  decides  on  the  size  of 
space  and  the  number  of  insertions  which  will  be  re- 
quired in  the  campaign.  In  some  agencies,  the  service 
manager  writes  all  the  copy.  Most  agencies,  however, 
have  a  copy  department  with  this  duty  as  a  sole  func- 
tion. In  such  cases,  the  copy  department  takes  the 
dominant  idea  and  prepares  a  list  of  advertisement 
subjects  for  each  advertisement.  Before  any  copy 
is  written  the  advertisement  subjects  are  approved  by 
the  service  manager  and  by  the  manager  of  produc- 
tion. Then  the  advertisement  subjects  are  submitted 
to  the  art  department  for  rough  layouts  or  "visualiza- 
tions" of  the  idea.  The  finished  copy  and  the  finished 
art  work  is  not  ordered  until  the  client  has  approved 
the  idea  of  the  copy  and  illustration  and  most  agencies 
at  this  step  also  estimate  the  cost  for  the  purchase  of 
art  work,  cuts  and  composition. 

That  there  may  be  no  misunderstanding,  the  adver- 
tising plan  is  usually  put  on  paper.  After  the  plan 
has  been  read  to  and  approved  by  the  Plan  Board, 
it  is  submitted  to  the  client  together  with  the  findings 
of  the  investigation.  This  is  the  most  important  func- 
tion of  the  agency  and  usually  takes  the  greater  part 


100  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

of  the  time.  One  agency  finds  that  on  the  average 
at  least  three  months  must  be  consumed  in  investigat- 
ing, one  month  in  planning  and  two  months  in  pro- 
ducing before  the  right  kind  of  advertisements  can  be 
completed.  This  is  one  of  the  many  reasons  why  a 
year's  campaign  is  planned  at  one  time. 

12.  Producing  the  advertisements. — When  the 
client  has  approved  the  plan,  the  agency  proceeds  to 
order  the  space.  The  layouts  are  then  sent  to  the 
artist  who,  because  of  his  particular  technique  or 
knowledge  in  relation  to  the  class  of  illustration  de- 
sired, has  been  chosen  to  prepare  the  drawings.  The 
artist  first  submits  pencil  sketches  and  when  these 
are  approved  the  layouts  are  sent  to  the  copy  depart- 
ment for  the  writing  of  the  copy.  By  this  method 
the  copywriter  knows  that  the  subject  of  each  adver- 
tisement is  exactly  the  subject  which  the  client  de- 
sires because  it  has  been  approved  by  the  client  and, 
having  the  layout  in  front  of  him,  can  consider  the 
advertisement  from  the  standpoint  of  the  reader  who 
sees  the  illustration  and  he  can  also  make  his  copy  fit 
the  space  which  has  been  agreed  upon  and  which  is 
available  in  the  layout. 

When  the  finished  drawings  are  received,  they  are 
submitted  to  the  client,  together  with  the  copy,  and 
after  the  client's  approval  the  production  is  simply 
a  matter  of  the  detail  of  ordering  cuts,  setting  the  ad- 
vertisement, making  a  sufficient  nimiber  of  proofs  in 
the  case  of  a  publication  advertisement  or  printing  in 
case  of  a  booklet  or  circular,  preparing  one  plate,  an 


THE  ADVERTISING  AGENCY  101 

electrotype,  stereotype  or  matrix  for  each  advertise- 
ment in  each  publication  and  shipping  the  plates  to 
the  publisher. 

13.  JR elation  of  agency  to  advertiser. — There  has 
been  much  discussion  about  the  division  of  functions 
between  the  advertising  agent  and  the  advertiser's 
own  advertising  department.  In  some  cases,  as  was 
shown  in  the  last  chapter,  advertisers  have  attempted 
to  get  along  without  advertising  departments  of  their 
own,  making  the  agency  responsible  for  all  details 
of  the  campaign.  In  other  cases,  the  advertiser  has 
an  extensive  advertising  department,  and  uses  the 
agency  chiefly  for  counsel  to  aid  in  the  copy  writing 
and  to  place  the  advertisements  in  publications.  Be- 
tween these  two  extremes  there  is  every  shade  of  vari- 
ation in  practice.  In  theory,  the  advertising  manager 
of  a  business  and  the  advertising  agent  with  whom  he 
works  should  confer  on  all  important  matters,  the  ad- 
vertising manager  bringing  to  the  conference  the 
facts  regarding  the  business,  its  goods,  its  personnel 
and  its  policies,  and  the  agent  bringing  the  outsider's 
viewpoint  with  a  detailed  knowledge  of  advertising 
principles  and  media  and  a  fund  of  data  regarding 
merchandising  plans  and  methods. 

The  agent's  plans  and  his  suggested  methods  of 
carrying  them  out  are  subject  to  the  approval  of 
the  advertising  manager  or  of  some  other  responsible 
member  of  the  advertiser's  organization.  A  spirit  of 
mutual  helpfulness  and  a  common  and  unselfish  desire 
really  to  advance  the  interests  of  the  advertiser  will 


102  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

do  more  to  bring  the  advertising  manager  and  the 
agent  into  helpful  cooperation  than  any  amount  of 
cut-and-dried  rules  defining  their  respective  functions. 

14.  The  advertising  agent's  compensation. — In  a 
sense  the  advertising  agency  is  the  middleman  in 
the  advertising  business.  He  does  not  buy  space  in 
large  quantities  to  resell  in  smaller  quantities,  never- 
theless he  does  sell  space  for  the  pubhsher.  For  this 
service  he  is  paid  by  the  publisher.  The  ordinary 
service  rendered  by  the  agent  to  his  principal — study 
of  the  client's  business,  the  writing  of  copy,  and  the 
placing  of  copy,  etc. — costs  the  advertiser  nothing. 
That  is,  the  advertiser  could  not  buy  space  any  more 
cheaply  if  he  performed  these  services  for  himself, 
than  he  can  buy  it  and  also  utilize  the  agency. 

The  space  used  by  the  advertiser  is  billed  to  him  by 
the  agent  generally  at  the  publisher's  card  rates.  The 
pubhsher  bills  the  agent  for  the  space  used  by  his 
cKent,  at  the  card  rate  less  a  certain  differential,  and  it 
is  this  differential  that  represents  the  agent's  gross 
compensation.  Out  of  it  he  has  to  pay  all  the  expenses 
of  conducting  his  agency,  keeping  what  remains  as 
profit.  The  differential  allowed  by  the  majority  of 
magazine  publishers  is  fifteen  per  cent.  That  is,  if  an 
advertiser  uses  one  thousand  dollars'  worth  of  space 
in  a  publication,  the  publisher  bills  the  agent  for  the 
full  amount  less  15  per  cent  and  allows  2  per  cent  of 
the  net  for  cash.  The  agent  in  turn  bills  the  adver- 
tiser in  one  of  two  ways.  The  usual  way  is  to  bill 
for  the  full  figure  but  allow  the  amount  of  the  dis- 


THE  ADVERTISING  AGENCY  103 

count  that  has  previously  been  given  the  agent  by  the 
pubhsher — 2  per  cent  of  the  publisher's  net  being  1.7 
per  cent  of  the  agent's  bill  to  the  advertiser.  The 
other  way  of  billing  an  advertiser  is  at  the  publisher's 
net  less  2  per  cent  for  cash  and  then  charging  15  per 
cent  for  serv^ice.  The  second  way  gives  the  agency 
about  ^'25  less  on  .$1,000. 

While  to  one  unfamiliar  with  the  advertising  busi- 
ness the  agency's  commission  may  appear  to  be  in 
a  very  involved  condition,  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  is  less 
involved  and  rates  are  more  rigidly  adhered  to  than 
in  almost  any  other  class  of  business.  An  agent  who 
cuts  rates  is  regarded  as  an  outlaw,  and  he  may  at  any 
moment  lose  recognition  from  the  publishers  and  will 
not  be  allowed  membership  (or  will  be  expelled  from 
membership )  in  the  American  Association  of  Adver- 
tising Agencies. 

The  agency's  commission,  allowed  him  by  those  who 
control  advertising  media,  pays  for  the  ordinary 
agency  service.  Many  agencies  make  an  additional 
"service  charge"  to  advertisers  when  the  services  ren- 
dered involve  unusual  outlays  of  money. 

Some  agencies  make  a  preliminary  charge  for  the 
investigation  and  others  charge  for  the  investigation 
and  the  plan,  whether  the  advertiser  uses  it  or  not.  In 
some  cases,  after  the  investigation  is  made  it  is  found 
tliat  there  is  not  a  sufficient  market  for  the  product,  in 
which  case  the  advertiser  pays  the  agent  on  a  time 
basis  or  an  estimated  sum  for  the  work  involved.  The 
advertiser  also  pays  the  agent  a  15%  service  fee  on 


104  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

all  material  purchases  made  for  the  advertiser.  These 
include  drawings,  cuts,  printing  and  all  other  such 
items.  Thus  the  average  agency  works  on  a  straight 
15%  basis. 

It  usually  costs  the  agency  from  10  to  13%  to  ren- 
der this  service,  thus  the  agent  makes  from  2  to  5% 
on  his  money.  Agencies  pride  themselves  on  never 
missing  a  cash  discount  and  usually  make  the  taking 
of  the  cash  discount  a  part  of  the  contract  with  the 
advertiser.  It  is  obvious,  under  such  a  close  margin, 
that  an  agency  cannot  extend  credit.  If  an  agency 
makes  a  net  profit  of  3%  it  is  only  making  $300  a 
month  profit  on  an  account  which  is  spending  $10,000 
a  month  in  publications.  If  the  agency  had  to  pay 
the  publisher  for  one  month's  advertising  on  which 
it  received  no  remuneration  from  the  advertiser,  it 
would  have  to  handle  a  volume  of  business  in  the  rela- 
tion that  $300  is  to  $10,000  before  it  would  break 
even  on  this  loss.  This  means  that  an  agency  would 
have  to  do  $333,000  worth  of  business  in  order  to 
make  up  one  month  of  a  $10,000  billing.  If  the  ad- 
vertiser defaulted  for  two  months,  the  agency  would 
have  to  do  $666,000  worth  of  billing  and  so  the  loss 
would  increase  each  month.  The  agency,  being  re- 
sponsible to  the  publisher  for  the  debts  of  the  adver- 
tiser and  working  on  such  a  small  margin,  insists  on 
prompt  payment,  takes  no  notes  and  reserves  the  right 
to  cancel  immediately  advertising  whenever  there  is 
any  question  of  the  advertiser's  ability  to  pay.  In 
case  of  such  cancelation,  however,  it  is  also  agreed  that 


THE  ADVERTISING  AGENCY  105 

the  advertiser  pay  the  agent  for  the  amount  of  work 
which  he  has  put  on  the  advertisements  which  would 
have  appeared  in  the  space  so  canceled. 

15.  The  meaning  of  "recogmtion." — Several  times 
in  the  preceding  paragraphs  we  have  referred  to 
"recognition"  of  agencies  by  publishers.  An  ad- 
vertising agency  is  "recognized"  when  the  publisher 
grants  a  commission  for  advertising  received  from  the 
agency.  As  advertising  agencies  began  to  increase 
in  number  and  to  demand  of  publishers  statements  of 
circulation  and  fixed  rates  for  space,  the  publishers 
found  it  advisable  to  organize  associations  to  investi- 
gate the  standing  and  responsibility  of  the  agents  in 
order  that  the  publishers  might  be  protected  from 
the  unscrupulous  and  the  irresponsible.  The  news- 
papers have  performed  this  function  thru  the  Amer- 
ican Newspaper  Publishers  Association,  the  maga- 
zines thru  the  Periodical  Publishers  Association,  and 
the  farm  journals  have  another  organization  of  their 
own.  There  are  some  publishers  who  will  not  grant 
recognition  until  they,  individually,  have  made  a  spe- 
cial contract  with  the  agent. 

These  associations  demand  of  the  advertising  agent 
a  satisfactory  financial  statement,  a  record  of  the  past 
experience  and  accomplishments  of  the  individuals 
in  charge  of  the  agency,  an  assurance  that  the  agency 
will  not  rebate  any  of  its  commissions  to  the  adver- 
tisers, a  list  of  the  accounts,  and  in  some  cases  a  state- 
ment of  the  volume  of  business  which  the  agency  is 
prepared  to  place.     The  number  of  accounts  neces- 


106  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

sary  to  secure  recognition  varies.  While  the  associa- 
tions generally  adhere  to  the  rule  that  an  agency  must 
have  at  least  three  accounts,  in  some  cases  a  pub- 
lisher insists  upon  at  least  three  accounts  placed  in 
his  publication;  and  all  now  demand  that  the  agency 
be  entirely  free,  on  a  financial  basis,  from  the  adver- 
tiser. 

16.  How  an  agency  secures  recognition. — With  so 
many  organizations  from  which  an  agency  must  ob- 
tain recognition  before  it  can  do  business  profitably, 
it  is  a  difficult  matter  for  the  new  agency  to  secure 
satisfactory  recognition.  When  one  considers  the 
credit  risk  the  publishers  take,  it  is  right  that  an 
agency's  ability  should  be  carefully  tested  before 
recognition  is  granted. 

From  the  advertiser's  viewpoint,  it  is  important 
that  the  advertising  agent  with  whom  he  deals  should 
be  recognized  by  all  classes  of  media.  This  arises 
from  the  fact  that  the  agent's  compensation  comes 
chiefly  in  the  form  of  commissions  from  publishers. 
If  he  were  granted  a  commission  by  one  publisher 
and  not  by  another,  he  might  be  suspected  of  putting 
his  own  interests  before  his  client's  if  he  were  to  se- 
lect the  first  publisher's  periodical,  and  not  the  sec- 
ond's, as  a  proper  medium  for  his  client's  advertise- 
ments. That  most  agents,  however,  do  not  let  the 
matter  of  commissions  influence  their  advice  to  their 
clients  is  indicated  by  the  many  cases  in  which  con- 
scientious advertising  agencies  have  placed  large  vol- 


THE  ADVERTISING  AGENCY  107 

limes  of  business  with  certain  publishers  who  did  not 
grant  them  recognition. 

To  insure  to  the  agent  proper  compensation  from 
all  media  that  his  chents'  campaigns  may  require, 
as  well  as  to  avoid  other  difficulties  in  the  methods  of 
recognition  in  vogue  in  the  past,  a  new  plan  of  agency- 
recognition  was  proposed  by  the  American  Associa- 
tion of  Advertising  Agencies  in  1921.  The  plan 
comprehends  joint  recognition  by  all  media,  the  recog- 
nition to  be  granted  by  a  central  body,  one  representa- 
tive from  each  medium  and  one  from  the  Agents' 
Association.  This  will  give  the  new  agency  an  op- 
portunity to  start  on  an  equal  basis  with  respect  to  all 
media,  and  will  give  each  medium  and  the  agents  them- 
selves an  equal  voice  in  the  recognition  of  others  to 
their  ranks. 

The  new  plan  will  do  much  to  clear  up  the  agency 
situation,  and,  while  it  may  not  be  easier  under  it  to 
secure  recognition  for  an  agency,  it  certainly  will  al- 
low those  securing  recognition  to  do  business  on  a 
more  satisfactory-  basis;  it  should  aid  publishers,  ad- 
vertisers and  agencies  alike. 

REVIEW 

Why  and  how  should  an  advertiser  use  an  advertising  agent? 

How  does  the  advertising  agent  help  the  publisher? 

Is  the  advertising  agent  the  agent  of  the  advertiser  or  of  the 
publisher? 

Should  an  advertising  agent  handle  competing  accounts? 
Give  the  reasons  for  your  answer. 

How  do  you  think  the  new  plan  for  recognizing  agents  will 
benefit  all  factors  in  advertising? 


108  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

Is  it  logical  for  the  pay  of  the  advertising  agent  to  be  based 
on  the  amount  and  value  of  the  space  used  by  a  client?  That  is, 
do  you  think  a  small  space  campaign  calls  for  little  time  and 
thought  comparatively  and  a  large  space  campaign  very  much 
more  in  proportion?  Can  you  think  of  any  other  practicable 
method  of  payment? 


CHAPTER  VII 

ADVERTISING  MEDIA 

1.  Place  of  the  medium  in  the  campaign. — We  have 
discussed  the  demand  for  the  product,  the  possible 
market,  the  competition  and  the  men  who  conduct 
the  advertising  campaign.  Our  next  question  is: 
How  may  the  advertisements  be  brought  before  the 
public?  Wliat  instrument  or  instruments  are  we  to 
use  to  send  our  advertising  message  to  the  greatest 
number  of  potential  customers? 

In  advertising,  as  in  war,  the  men  who  direct  the 
forces  are  constantly  confronted  by  the  problem  of 
choosing  the  best  means  of  carrying  on  the  campaign 
operations.  What  media  are  to  be  used?  For  any 
given  product,  designed  to  reach  a  given  class  of 
people,  what  means  can  best  serve  the  advertiser  in 
carrying  his  message  to  the  people  he  wants  to  reach? 
Shall  it  be  magazines  or  newspapers,  street  cars, 
circular  letters,  catalogs,  sampling,  house  organs  or 
painted  signs,  electrical  displays,  demonstrations  and 
so  on  to  the  end  of  a  long  list?  We  are  to  find  that 
there  are  three  main  classes  of  media,  direct  media, 
periodicals,  signs, — just  as  there  are  three  main  divi- 
sions of  an  army,  infantry,  cavalry  and  artillery, 
and  that  these  three  advertising  classes  divide  and 
subdivide  into  so  many  groups  that  the  problem  of 

XIII— 9  109 


110  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

selecting  the  right  media  is  as  difficult  as  it  is  im- 
portant. 

2.  One  medium  alone  seldom  sufficient. — In  war 
few  campaigns  have  succeeded  by  the  use  of  one 
branch  of  the  service  alone.  Napoleon  placed  too 
much  confidence  in  his  artillery,  and  this  is  said  to 
have  been  one  of  the  causes  of  his  fall  at  Waterloo. 
So  in  advertising,  few  successes  are  attributable  to 
the  use  of  only  one  class  of  media.  Campbell's 
Soups  were  first  advertised  in  the  street-cars,  and  for 
a  long  time  this  was  the  only  class  of  advertising  the 
company  used.  Today,  however,  this  great  adver- 
tiser is  depending  on  magazine  advertising  for  the 
greater  proportion  of  its  success,  and  is  also  using 
newspaper  advertising  in  many  localities. 

The  choice  of  the  media  to  be  used  is  one  of  the 
most  important  problems  of  any  advertising  cam- 
paign. 

3.  Advertising  media  defined. — An  advertising 
medium,  in  its  broadest  sense,  is  any  vehicle  which 
carries  an  advertising  message,  suggestion  or  im- 
pression. Everyone  in  business  at  some  time  in  his 
career  has  had  someone  try  to  sell  him  something  on 
the  ground  that  "it  will  be  a  good  'ad'  for  you."  The 
doctor  and  the  lawyer,  who  are  usually  left  alone  by 
the  advertising  solicitor,  are  persuaded  to  buy  ex- 
pensive automobiles,  fine  homes  and  memberships  in 
clubs  on  the  pretext  of  "advertising."  The  politician 
buys  space  in  the  program  which  the  ladies  of  the 
church  are  going  to  use  at  their  next  fair.    Each  of 


ADVERTISING  MEDIA  111 

these  methods  carries  a  suggestion  or  makes  an  im- 
pression on  the  pubhc.  The  impression  is  valuable  or 
not  according  to  its  character  and  its  intensity.  Gen- 
erally its  value  is  far  below  what  could  be  secured 
thru  the  so-called  legitimate  or  regular  media,  like  the 
mails,  periodicals  and  signs,  but  not  always. 

Mr.  M.  W.  Savage  of  the  International  Stock  Food 
Company  owned  Dan  Patch,  Minor  Heir  and  other 
famous  horses.  The  name  of  Dan  Patch  was  insepa- 
rable from  the  International  Stock  Food  Company, 
and  wherever  he  appeared  he  was  an  advertisement 
for  his  owner  and  his  owner's  business. 

4.  How  media  are  selected. — At  the  outset  of  a 
study  of  media  the  advertiser  should  clearly  under- 
stand that  all  media  are  good.  They  are  not  all 
good  for  all  purposes  or  for  all  advertisers,  but  each 
one  for  some  particular  purpose  and  in  some  par- 
ticular way  can  perform  a  useful  service  for  some  ad- 
vertiser. There  are  many  rival  claims  of  superiority 
among  the  people  who  try  to  induce  advertisers  to 
use  different  classes  of  media.  Some  magazine  men 
try  to  convince  advertisers  that  magazines  as  a  class 
are  better  media  than  newspapers,  and  then  the  news- 
paper publishers  set  up  counter  claims  of  superiority 
for  their  publications.  Billboards  are  said  to  be  bet- 
ter than  street-car  cards,  and  street-car  cards  are  said 
to  be  better  than  billboards.  And  so  the  fruitless 
controversy  goes  on  respecting  all  kinds  of  media. 
Such  discussion  is  as  futile  as  to  debate  the  relative 
value  to  man  of  baseball,  golf  and  tennis. 


112  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

One  class  of  media  is  not  better  than  another.  It 
may  be  better  for  a  certain  purpose,  and  worse  for 
another.  The  problem  of  the  advertiser  is,  first,  to 
find  out  definitely  what  purpose  he  wants  to  achieve 
— what  people  he  wants  to  reach,  what  he  wants  them 
to  do,  how  his  product  can  best  be  made  to  appeal  to 
them,  how  they  live,  earn,  spend  and  play — and  then 
to  pick  out,  after  unprejudiced  consideration  of  all 
media,  the  ones  that  can  best  carry  his  message  about 
his  product  to  his  market.  The  problem  is  individual 
for  each  advertiser. 

5.  Circulation. — The  circulation  of  any  advertise- 
ment is,  in  its  broadest  sense,  the  number  of  individ- 
uals who  may  be  expected  to  see  it.  The  circulation 
of  a  medium  is  the  number  of  people  that  it  reaches. 
How  it  reaches  them:  whether  by  newsstand  sale,  or 
subscription,  and  if  the  latter  on  what  inducement, 
we  are  not  here  to  discuss.  At  this  point,  however,, 
it  is  important  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  circulation 
does  not  always  or  often  mean  the  actual  number  of 
people  who  see  an  advertisement — it  means  the  num- 
ber who  may  be  expected  to  see  it.  The  user  of  di- 
rect media  sends  out  5,000  form  letters.  His  cir- 
culation is  5,000.  One  thousand  or  more  of  his  let- 
ters may  go  into  the  waste-basket  of  recipients  with- 
out being  read.  It  is  the  advertiser's  task  to  make 
his  direct  advertising  so  attractive  in  appearance  that 
most  or  every  one  of  his  5,000  circulation  will  really 
see  and  read  his  message.  The  user  of  periodicals 
may  buy  a  circulation  of  100,000.     That  is  what  he 


ADVERTISING  MEDIA  113 

pays  for.  He  does  not  necessarily,  however,  purchase 
100,000  readers  of  his  advertisement.  Whether  any 
or  all  of  the  people  who  make  up  the  100,000  circula- 
tion of  his  media  see  and  read  his  advertisement  de- 
pends on  his  ability  to  attract  their  attention  and  to 
arouse  their  interest.  In  other  words,  circulation 
and  readers  of  an  advertisement  are  two  separate 
and  altogether  distinct  things.  Circulation  is  a  me- 
chanical tiling  that  can  be  bought.  Readers  cannot 
be  bought ;  they  must  be  persuaded. 

Until  recent  years  statements  of  circulation  have 
often  been  unreliable.  Some  publishers  refused  to 
give  any  statements  regarding  circulation,  and  others 
were  satisfied  with  round  numbers  that  were  obviously 
inaccurate.  The  sellers  of  space  for  signs  made  little 
effort  to  estimate  the  number  of  people  who  might  see 
them,  and  even  users  of  direct  advertising  bought 
lists  of  names  with  frequent  disregard  for  their  time- 
liness and  value.  Now,  all  this  is  changed.  Sworn 
circulations  are  the  order  of  the  day.  Circulation  is 
a  matter  of  careful  investigation,  and  everyone — pub- 
lishers, billboard  people,  companies  controlling  street- 
car space,  advertisers  and  the  government  itself — is 
concerned  with  the  circulation  of  advertising  media. 
The  United  States  Post  Office  Department  demands 
sworn  statements  of  circulation  from  newspapers, 
and  the  Audit  Bureau  of  Circulation  to  which  most 
periodical  publishers,  advertisers  and  agents  belong, 
issues  detailed  analyses  of  circulation  for  its  members. 
Other    associations    and    individuals    are    rendering 


114  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

similar  service.     This  is  decidedly  the  day  of  known 
circulations. 

6.  Three  general  classes  of  media. — All  advertising 
media  may  be  divided  into  three  classes : 

a.  Direct  media — thru  which  the  possible  customer 
is  reached  directly  by  the  advertiser,  either  by  mail  or 
by  some  other  distributing  agency  fully  controlled  by 
the  advertiser. 

b.  Periodicals — thru  which  the  possible  customer  is 
reached,  indirectly,  thru  publishers. 

c.  Signs — thru  which  the  possible  customer  is 
reached  in  his  travel  about  town  or  the  country. 

In  the  case  of  direct  media,  the  circulation  is  en- 
tirely in  the  hands  of  the  advertiser.  He  makes  up 
his  own  list  of  possible  customers  and  reaches  them 
for  the  most  part  thru  the  mail.  He  may  add  a  name 
or  eliminate  a  name  at  will.  He  is  in  full  control  of 
all  advertising  media  of  this  class. 

When  one  buys  space  in  a  periodical  he  does  not 
have  full  control  of  its  circulation.  The  publisher 
comes  to  the  advertiser  and  announces  that  he  is  dis- 
tributing his  publication  regularly  to  a  certain  class 
of  readers.  He  offers  to  introduce  the  advertiser  to 
these  readers  thru  space  in  his  publication.  ,  He  tells 
the  advertiser  the  class  of  readers  he  can  reach.  The 
advertiser  can  pick  and  choose  his  publications,  but 
he  has  no  control  over  the  circulation  of  these  publi- 
cations. 

Signs  include  a  wide  variety  of  different  kinds  of 
media.     Neither  the  advertiser  nor  the  one  who  sells 


ADVERTISING  MEDIA  115 

the  space  has  full  control  of  the  circulation  reached  by 
signs.  An  electric  sign  may  be  placed  at  the  corner  of 
Broadway  and  Forty-Second  Street  in  New  York. 
Estimates,  based  on  careful  count,  can  be  made  of  the 
number  of  people  who  will  pass  that  point  every 
twenty-four  hours,  but  the  advertiser  cannot  buy  a 
definite  circulation  for  the  sign.  It  will  vary  from 
day  to  day  and  week  to  week  according  to  the  habits 
of  the  people.  The  second  party  in  the  advertising 
triangle,  the  shifting  public,  determines  the  circula- 
tion. 

7.  Kinds  of  direct  media. — Each  of  the  three  classes 
of  media  divides  itself  into  six  kinds,  making  eighteen 
in  all.  While  the  division  may  be  somewhat  arbi- 
trary it  will  simplify  perplexing  questions.  If  the 
reader  will  consider  the  media  used  by  any  specific 
business  in  relation  to  the  chart  printed  in  the  Appen- 
dix, page  321,  he  will  find  that  there  is  a  place  and  a 
reason  for  each  kind. 

The  six  kinds  of  direct  media  are 

1.  Letters 

2.  Sampling  and  demonstration 

3.  Booklets 

4.  Catalogs 

5.  House  organs 

6.  Novelties. 

8.  Letters. — The  first  kind  of  direct  media  is  the 
duplicated  letter.  A  letter  written  to  one  individual 
and  sent  only  to  him  is  properly  not  advertising  at  ail. 


116  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

It  is  personal  salesmanship,  because  presumably  the 
personal  characteristics  of  the  recipient  were  appealed 
to  when  the  letter  was  dictated.  A  letter  that  is 
duplicated,  however,  and  that  goes  to  a  group  of 
people,  is  properly  called  advertising,  because  it 
is  an  appeal  to  a  group  rather  than  to  an 
individual. 

9.  Sampling  and  demonstrating. — In  sampling  or 
demonstrating,  the  actual  thing  to  be  sold  is  allowed 
to  speak  for  itself.  In  a  sense,  sampling  and  demon- 
strating are  a  form  of  personal  salesmanship  rather 
than  of  advertising,  because  the  article  to  be  sold  is 
usually  put  personally  into  the  hands  of  the  possible 
purchaser.  Nevertheless,  these  publicity  methods  are 
usually  classed  as  advertising  because  every  sample 
in  a  lot  of  ten  thousand  is  usually  distributed  in  ex- 
actly the  same  way  as  every  other  sample ;  the  appeal 
is  really  a  mass  appeal,  altho  the  samplers  come  into 
actual  contact  with  individuals. 

10.  Booklets. — The  next  group  of  direct  media  in- 
cludes booklets,  leaflets  and  folders.  Some  adver- 
tising campaigns  are  built  entirely  on  two  direct 
media,  sampling  and  either  booklets,  leaflets  or  fold- 
ers. The  booklet  tells  the  story  more  completely 
than  it  can  be  told  in  a  letter.  In  the  booklet  one 
can  show  illustrations,  while  this  is  difficult  in  a  letter. 
The  booklet  is  one  step  farther  removed  from  the 
salesman.  It  has  been  said  that  every  advertising 
campaign  calls  for  at  least  one  booklet.  No  letter, 
periodical  or  sign  can  tell  the  whole  story. 


ADVERTISING  MEDIA  117 

11.  Catalogs. — The  next  general  group  of  direct 
advertising  media  consists  of  catalogs.  The  adver- 
tising of  Sears,  Roebuck  &  Company  is  confined  to 
catalogs  almost  exclusively.  In  the  beginning  of  the 
business  this  company  was  a  large  user  of  space  in 
periodicals.  The  number  of  customers  finally  became 
so  great,  and  the  company  obtained  such  direct  con- 
nections with  its  patrons  that  all  periodical  advertis- 
ing was  discontinued,  and  the  catalog  is  today  the 
only  kind  of  advertising  used.  The  following  ex- 
planation of  his  company's  advertising  policy  was 
made  by  Mr.  Richard  W.  Sears  a  few  years  before 
his  death ; 

We  have  simply  outgrown  the  circulation  of  mail-order 
journals,  farm  and  religious  papers,  magazines,  and  similar 
mediums,  because  long  use  of  them  to  advertise  our  catalog 
has  given  the  book  a  wider  distribution  than  any  periodicals 
we  can  use.  What  periodical  has  a  circulation  of  5,000,000 
copies  ?  Yet  we  put  out  that  many  catalogs  a  year.  Every 
twenty-four  hours  12,000  requests  for  the  book  come  to  us, 
and  we  are  sending  out,  at  the  same  time,  later  editions  to 
people  already  on  the  mailing  lists.  There  is  no  duplication 
in  this  circulation.  We  take  every  precaution  to  see  that  no 
person  gets  two  copies  of  the  catalog  the  same  year.  Every 
name  and  address  to  which  a  copy  is  sent  is  filed  geographi- 
cally and  every  request  is  compared  with  this  file.  When  the 
business  was  new,  we  advertised  the  catalog  persistently,  but 
now  we  do  not  advertise  it  at  all.  Yet  we  send  out  nearly 
100,000  copies  every  week.  Of  the  requests  that  come 
seventy-five  per  cent  are  from  people  who  have  an  old  catalog. 
Only  twenty-five  per  cent  are  new. 

Matters  have  gone  on  to  a  stage  where  periodical  adver- 
tising no  longer  pays  us,  because  there  are  not  enough  new 
prospects  left  in  the  country  to  make  it  profitable. 


118  ADVERTISING  CAIVIPAIGNS 

We  can't  see  how  to  spend  more  money  profitably  in  peri- 
odicals. Our  catalog  tells  our  story  so  effectively  that  no 
amount  of  newspaper  or  magazine  space  could  produce  the 
same  advertising  effect. 

Despite  this  condition  in  rural  districts,  when  Sears, 
Roebuck  &  Company  attempts  to  extend  its  field,  as 
it  has  done  in  selling  a  special  edition  of  the  Encyclo- 
pedia Britannica,  it  is  a  most  liberal  user  of  both 
magazine  and  newspaper  space.  In  such  cases  the 
mail-order  house  advertises  to  reach  a  new  market 
which  its  catalog  does  not  reach  and  in  which  its 
catalog  alone  does  not  carry  sufficient  prestige. 

Few  advertisers  can  rely  solely  on  the  catalog,  be- 
cause few  of  them  have  covered  their  field  as  inten- 
sively as  the  big  mail-order  houses.  The  catalog  is 
usually  a  supplementary  advertising  medium,  to  aid 
the  salesman  and  to  turn  into  orders  inquiries  pro- 
duced by  other  kinds  of  advertising  media. 

12.  House  organs. — A  house  organ  is  a  publica- 
tion, usually  in  the  form  of  a  magazine  or  newspaper, 
issued  by  a  business  house  in  the  interests  of  that 
house.  It  appears,  ordinarily,  at  regular  intervals, 
and,  therefore,  it  might  be  thought  of  as  a  periodical 
instead  of  a  direct  medium.  It  is  properly  classified 
as  a  direct  medium  because,  regardless  of  when  it  ap- 
pears, its  circulation  is  entirely  in  the  control  of  the 
advertiser. 

House  organs  are  of  many  different  kinds. 

The  house  organ  that  acts  as  a  direct  advertising 
medium  is  the  one  that  goes  to  dealers  or  to  con- 


ADVERTISING  MEDIA  119 

sumers.  ISIany  manufacturers  publish  more  or  less 
elaborate  magazines,  in  the  interest  of  their  own  busi- 
ness, which  they  send  regularly  to  jobbers  and  re- 
tailers as  well  as  to  the  traveling  salesmen  and  clerks 
of  these  distributors.  Other  advertisers,  dealing  di- 
rect with  consumers,  send  regidarly  their  sales  story 
in  the  form  of  magazines  of  varying  degrees  of  pre- 
tentiousness to  people  who  might  be  interested. 
House  organs  are  ordinarily  used  to  back  up  the  work 
of  salesmen  and  the  appeal  of  other  kinds  of  advertis- 
ing ;  very  seldom  are  they  used  alone. 

13.  Novelties. — The  next  class  of  direct  media  is 
known  as  novelties  or  specialties.  It  consists  of 
calendars,  pocketbooks,  knives,  paper  weights  and  a 
large  variety  of  other  articles  of  more  or  less  utility 
to  the  one  to  whom  they  are  presented.  Novelties  are 
usually  given  away  by  the  advertiser,  altho  sometimes 
the  possible  customer  is  asked  to  pay  a  nominal  price 
for  them.  A  novelty  is  ordinarily  something  that 
will  be  constantly  before  the  recipient  and  which  will, 
therefore,  continually  remind  him  of  the  advertiser. 
Another  element  of  value  is  supposed  to  lie  in  the 
fact  that  the  recipient  of  a  novelty,  if  it  is  of  any 
value,  will  feel  a  degree  of  gratitude  to  the  advertiser, 
and  will  reciprocate  by  giving  him  his  orders. 

Some  novelties  have  still  anotlier  kind  of  value. 
They  result  in  the  good-will  of  the  recipient,  but  they 
also  act  as  signs  to  draw  the  attention  of  others. 
Nearly  everyone  has  seen  the  watch  charm  in  the 
form  of  a  green  pickle,  given  away  by  the  manufac- 


120  ADVERTISING    CAMPAIGNS  j 

turer  of  Heinz  pickles.  This  is  valued  by  the  man  j 
who  wears  it,  and  it  also  serves  to  advertise  Heinz 
pickles  to  others.  In  the  same  class  are  umbrellas 
and  horse  blankets  which  carry  advertising.  Prob- 
ably the  most  effective  advertising  specialties  are  those 
that  serve  both  as  signs  and  as  direct  media. 

REVIEW 

Fundamentally,  how  do  the  three  main  groups  of  advertising 
media  differ? 

For  your  business,  which  of  the  three  main  divisions  of  media 
seems  to  offer  the  greatest  opportunities  ?     Why  ? 

What  does  an  advertiser  pay  for  when  he  buys  "circulation"? 

Under  what  circumstances  can  catalogs  be  profitably  used  as 
a  sole  advertising  medium? 

Could  you  use  direct  media  in  your  business?  If  so,  what 
kinds  ? 


CHAPTER  VIII 

ADVERTISING  MEDIA  (Continued) 

1.  Periodicals. — The  second  main  division  of  ad- 
vertising media,  called  periodicals  or  publications, 
may  be  subdivided  into  six  general  groups: 

1.  Newspapers  4.  Trade,   technical,   and 

class  publications 

2.  General  magazines       5.  Foreign  language  pub- 

lications 

3.  Farm  papers  6.  Directories  and  miscel- 

laneous periodicals 

2.  Newspapers. — Newspapers  as  a  class  carry 
more  advertising  than  any  other  one  medium.  They 
carried  advertising  before  the  modern  magazine  made 
its  appearance,  and  they  continue  as  exceedingly  im- 
portant advertising  aids,  not  alone  for  the  local 
dealer,  but  for  the  manufacturer  as  well.  It  is  not 
possible  accurately  to  define  the  term  newspaper,  be- 
cause the  dividing  line  between  some  newspapers  and 
some  magazines  is  exceedingly  indistinct.  However,  a 
description  is  as  good  as  a  definition  for  our  pur- 
poses, and  ordinarily  a  newspaper  has  certain  char- 
acteristics   which    permit   of   its   easy    classification. 

m 


122  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

There  are  two  outstanding  characteristics.     First,  aj 
newspaper  is  concerned  chiefly  with  the  printing  of  j 
news— ;-not  the  news  of  special  trades  or  interests,  but  ] 
the  general  news  of  the  community  and  the  world. 
Second,  a  newspaper  ordinarily  serves  a  definite  lo- 
cality.    It  may  have  subscribers  all  over  the  country, 
but  the  bulk  of  its  readers  are  found  in  the  community  i 
in  which  it  is  published. 

Newspapers  may  be  classified  in  a  variety  of  ways. 
Using  the  interval  between  issues  as  the  basis  of  classi-  j 
fication,  we  have  dailies,  weeklies,  semi-weeklies  and  i 
perhaps  others.     Few  real  newspapers  are  published  \ 
less  frequently  than  once  a  week.     Another  basis  of 
classification   gives   morning,    evening   and    Sunday  l 
papers.     We  are  not  now  concerned  with  the  sub-  \ 
classifications.     The  important  thing  is  that  the  news- 1 
paper  is  primarily  a  local  medium,  of  undoubted  value  j 
for  the  advertiser  who  wishes  to  reach  intensively  the 
buying  public  of  a  given  community. 

3.  Magazines. — A  magazine  differs  from  a  news-j 
paper  chiefly  in  that  it  is  not  primarily  concerned  with  ! 
the  printing  of  news.  It  may  summarize  the  news  ' 
(for  example.  The  Outlook,  The  Independent  and  j 
The  Literary  Digest),  but  its  chief  purpose  is  to  com-  * 
ment  on  the  news  and  to  interpret  it,  or  to  instruct  and  \ 
'amuse  with  fiction,  essays  and  other  forms  of  more  : 
or  less  permanent  literature.  Altho  some  magazines 
are  published  for  a  local  clientele,  most  of  them  cir- 
culate rather  widely  in  a  state,  a  section,  or  thruout  the  \ 
entire  country.  i 


ADVERTISING  MEDIA  128 

Magazines  are  variously  classified.  First,  there  are 
the  weeklies,  monthlies,  quarterlies  and  annuals;  some 
are  published  twice  a  week,  others  every  two  weeks 
and  a  very  few  at  still  other  intervals.  Magazines  are 
also  classified  on  the  basis  of  their  readers;  for  exam- 
ple, publications  for  men,  for  women,  for  children.  A 
publication  might  be  intended  only  for  a  particular 
group  of  people — those  belonging  to  a  certain  reli- 
gious denomination,  for  instance.  Strictly  speaking, 
such  a  pubhcation,  judged  by  its  contents,  might  be  a 
magazine  even  with  this  limited  audience.  In  the 
language  of  advertising,  however,  it  would  be  a  class 
publication  and  not  a  magazine,  the  latter  word  being 
arbitrarily  reserved  for  periodicals  with  a  relatively 
wide  appeal. 

4.  Farm  journals. — Farm  journals  reach  people  in 
rural  communities.  Farm  journals  are  for  the  most 
part  territorial  in  their  influence  and  the  circulation 
does  not  extend  beyond  certain  agricultural  belts. 
Tiiere  are,  for  instance,  corn-belt  farm  papers  and 
wheat-belt  farm  papers.  Other  farm  papers  concen- 
trate their  circulation  in  certain  states.  For  instance, 
there  are  three  farm  papers  published  in  Minnesota. 
About  seventy  per  cent  of  the  circulation  of  the  two 
leaders  is  in  Minnesota  with  the  remainder  in  North 
and  South  Dakota,  Montana,  western  Wisconsin  and 
northern  Iowa.  There  are,  however,  at  least  six  na- 
tional farm  papers,  which  advertisers  use  to  reach 
farmers  all  over  the  country  in  the  same  way  that  they 
use  the  national  magazines  to  reach  generally  the  in- 


124  ADVERTISING    CAMPAIGNS 

habitants  of  cities  and  towns  thruout  the  United! 
States.  i 

The  farm  journals  of  this  country  have  probably i 
done  as  much  as  any  other  one  influence  to  introduce 
better  farming.    They  have  gone  hand  in  hand  with; 
the  agricultural  colleges  and  the  United  States  De- ; 
partment  of  Agriculture  in  their  great  educational 
work. 

5.  Trade,  techrdcal  and  class  publications. — A  pe-^ 
riodical,  to  be  classed  as  a  trade,  technical  or  class  j 
publication,  must  be  edited  so  as  to  appeal  to  a  cer-j 
tain  group  of  people  possessing  common  interests.! 
A  trade  publication,  technically  speaking,  is  one  that 
is  devoted  to  the  business  interest  of  dealers  in  mer-  j 
chandise.  The  Dry  Goods  Economist  is  an  example ;  j 
it  reaches  owners  and  buyers  of  dry -goods  stores  and  | 
department  stores.  Many  trade  papers  are  exceed- j 
ingly  influential  and  are  valued  for  advertisers  who  i 
wish  to  reach  dealers.  Almost  every  line  of  business ; 
has  its  trade  paper,  and  in  some  lines  there  are  many  i 
competing  publications.  ; 

A  technical  publication  is  ordinarily  one  that  goes 
to  consumers,  instead  of  to  dealers,  and  is  devoted  to  I 
the  interests  of  those  engaged  in  a  technical  activity. ! 
For  example.  The  Engineering  and  Mining  Journal  \ 
is  a  technical  periodical  reaching  mining  engineers! 
and  others  interested  in  the  technical  side  of  mining. 
Similarly,  The  American  Medical  Journal  is  a  tech-i 
nical  publication  for  physicians.  I 

Class  publications  are  periodicals  appealing  to  a< 


ADVERTISING  MEDIA  125 

certain  class  of  people,  and  not  properly  included 
among  eitlier  trade  or  technical  publications.  Every 
religious  denomination  has  its  own  class  periodicals 
— about  1,200  in  the  United  States.  Printers'  Ink 
is  a  class  publication  appealing  to  those  interested  in 
advertising,  altho  it  might  almost  be  classed  as  a 
technical  periodical.  Every  large  social  group  or  as- 
sociation has  its  class  paper.  There  are  also  class 
publications  for  the  rural  district,  such  as  American 
Fruit  Groicer  and  Hoard's  Dairyman. 

6.  Foreign  language  publications. — Another  large 
group  of  publications  is  found  in  the  foreign  lan- 
guage field.  In  a  sense  they  are  class  publications. 
There  are  nearly  1,300  publications  in  the  United 
States  printed  in  foreign  languages.  America  is  the 
great  melting  pot,  and  wliile  the  first  occupation  of 
the  new  American  is  usually  that  of  learning  the  lan- 
guage, there  are  many  who  speak  English  and  can- 
not read  it.  These  people  can  often  be  reached  only 
thru  the  foreign  language  publications,  which  are 
for  the  most  part  published  weekly,  altho  many  ap- 
pear daily  and  are  usually  newspapers  in  form  and 
purpose. 

7.  Directories. — The  next  class  of  publications  in- 
cludes directories  and  miscellaneous  periodicals.  Di- 
rectories include  city  directories,  telephone  directories, 
trade  directories  and  all  other  periodical  publications" 
to  which  one  refers  when  in  search  of  names,  num- 
bers or  other  similar  information.  Advertisements 
in  sucli  publications  are  usually  little  more  than  dis- 

XIII— 10 


126  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

play  cards  announcing  the  business  of  the  advertisers. 
Some  of  the  important  directories  which  appeal  to 
special  interests  sell  space  on  the  basis  of  a  guaranteed 
circulation  and  in  them  advertisements  are  more  di- 
versified in  character. 

8.  Theater  programs. — Among  the  remaining  pub- 
lications that  appear  periodically,  theater  programs 
are  perhaps  most  important  for  the  advertiser.  They 
are  widely  used  for  a  certain  type  of  advertising  ap- 
peal to  which  a  theater  audience  is  supposed  to  be 
peculiarly  responsive.  The  control  of  theater  pro- 
gram advertising  in  the  larger  cities  is  now  in  the 
hands  of  a  syndicate,  so  that  it  is  possible  for  an  adver- 
tiser to  place  a  single  contract  for  theater  program 
space  in  a  nimiber  of  cities  from  coast  to  coast. 

9.  Signs. — The  sign  is  probably  the  oldest  form  of 
advertising.  The  Egyptians  and  Romans  were  na- 
tions of  sign  users.  Among  the  ruins  of  Hercu- 
laneum  and  Pompeii  there  still  exist  signs  carved  in 
stone  to  advertise  the  wares  of  bakers  and  vintners 
and  the  services  of  hair-dressers.  Modern  signs  are 
of  six  classes,  with  many  subdivisions  in  each  class- 
The  six  main  groups  are : 

1.  Dealers'  signs 

2.  Posters 

3.  Painted  bulletins 

4.  Electrical  signs 

5.  Street-car  cards 

6.  Theater  signs 


ADVERTISING  MEDIA  127 

10.  Dealers'  signs. — Dealers'  signs  include  all  signs 
in  or  about  the  place  where  the  article  advertised  is 
sold,  distributed  or  manufactured.  They  include  also 
the  dealer's  name  over  the  door  or  in  some  other 
prominent  place  on  the  outside  of  the  store.  Usually 
such  a  sign  is  a  simple  announcement:  "John  Jones, 
Grocer."  Some  manufacturers  have  found  it  to  their 
advantage  to  furnish  permanent  signs  of  this  sort  to 
dealers  for  the  privilege  of  adding  at  the  end  "Buy 
Arbuckle's  Coffee  Here,"  or  some  other  such  phrase. 
Many  advertisers  supply  similar  signs  for  the  window 
sills  of  stores.  Then  there  are  window  trims,  counter 
signs,  wall  signs  and  special  display  racks  bearing 
the  advertisement  of  the  manufacturer  who  furnishes 
them. 

11.  Posters.  — The  poster  is  an  out-of-doors  adver- 
tisement printed  on  sheets  of  paper  and  pasted  on 
flat  display  surfaces.  Until  a  few  years  ago,  posters 
were  pasted  on  fences  or  any  other  available  flat  sur- 
face with  or  without  the  permission  of  the  owners. 
Today  the  poster  plants  of  the  country  have  estab- 
lished standard  sizes  of  boards  and  rent  all  their 
locations.  The  standard  poster  sheet  is  twenty-eight 
by  forty-two  inches,  and  a  single  poster  "stand"  is 
made  up  of  eight,  twelve,  sixteen  or  twenty-four 
sheets.  The  height  of  a  poster  is  nine  and  one-fourth 
feet.  The  twenty-four-sheet  poster  is  now  becoming 
recognized  as  the  standard  size,  giving  a  display 
twenty-one  feet  long  by  nine  and  one-fourth  feet  high. 
The  different  showings  are  graded  by  the  class  of 


128  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

boards  on  which  they  are  displayed.  The  grades  are 
A  A,  A,  B,  C,  and  D'.  The  D  board  is  a  wooden 
structure  without  a  frame.  The  AA  board  is  a  steel 
structure  with  a  green  'molding  frame  and  several 
inches  of  white  paper  or  "blanking"  around  the  sheets. 

Poster  advertising  rates  are  based  on  the  month  of 
display,  and  the  price  varies  with  localities. 

12.  Painted  bulletins . — The  next  general  group  of 
signs  includes  all  kinds  of  painted  bulletins.  Painted 
bulletins  are  much  hke  posters  in  purpose  and  in  the 
kinds  of  things  that  can  be  profitably  advertised  on 
them;  but,  of  course,  painted  bulletins  are  much  less 
widely  used  because  each  bulletin  must  be  separately 
painted,  and  skilled  men  are  required  to  produce 
them.  Painted  bulletin  advertising,  for  the  most 
part,  is  confined  to  the  larger  cities  and  to  positions 
along  the  main  traveled  roads.  Few  of  the  smaller 
towns  are  equipped  to  furnish  painted  bulletins. 

Painted  bulletins  may  roughly  be  divided  into  three 
classes: 

1.  City  boards 

2.  Railroad  boards 

3.  Painted  walls 

The  twenty-five-foot  bulletin  has  for  a  long  time 
been  considered  standard,  altho  of  late  many  adver- 
tisers are  using  fifty-foot  boards  both  in  the  city  and 
in  the  country.  Contracts  are  generally  made  on  a 
three  years'  basis. 


ADVERTISING  MEDIA  129 

In  cities,  where  the  buildings  are  high  and  crowded 
together,  few  walls  are  available  for  painted  display 
advertising,  and  those  that  are  available  are  conse- 
quently high  in  price.  Painted  display  advertise- 
ments showing  to  streets  having  a  heavy  night  traffic 
may  profitably  be  lighted  at  night  by  means  of  elec- 
tric reflecting  light.  The  price  for  signs  includes  the 
cost  of  painting,  illuminating  and  maintenance. 
Lighted  walls  are  usually  sold  on  a  flat  rate  per  month 
based  on  the  expense  for  rent,  painting  and  illumina- 
tion ;  this  expense  varies  for  different  localities. 

13.  Electric  signs.— "The  Great  White  Way"  de- 
rives its  name  and  fame  from  the  electric  advertising 
signs  that  illuminate  it.  In  New  York,  upper  Broad- 
way at  night  is  one  of  the  sights  of  the  metropolis. 
This  is  the  electric  sign  center  of  the  country.  The 
number  and  effectiveness  of  the  electric  signs  there 
and  elsewhere  prove  that  electric  signs  are  one  of  the 
great  advertising  media. 

Electric  signs  are  ordinarily  composed  of  sheet  steel 
letters  mounted  on  steel  frames,  each  letter  being 
lighted  by  a  strip  of  incandescent  electric  bulbs  by 
means  of  what  are  known  as  "flashers" — mechani- 
cal contrivances  that  automatically  turn  on  and  shut 
off  the  electric  current.  The  copy  and  illustrations 
on  these  signs  are  frequently  made  to  change  at  in- 
tervals, and  possess  great  attractive  value  thru  a  com- 
bination of  color,  motion  and  pleasing  design.  Every 
important  city  in  the  United  States  has  many  of  these 
electric  signs. 


130  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

The  price  is  hard  tc  estimate,  as  each  stand  is  sold 
separately.  Signs  are  usually  lighted  from  dusk  un- 
til after  midnight  each  evening.  Some  advertisers 
have  set  aside  the  greater  part  of  their  appropriations 
for  this  class  of  advertising  media. 

14.  Railway  signs. — Advertising  in  street  cars,  ele- 
vated trains  and  subways  has  grown  with  the  mar- 
velous development  of  urban  and  interurban  trans- 
portation. This  class  of  advertising  includes  cards 
in  the  cars  as  well  as  bulletins  on  the  station  plat- 
forms. The  "circulation"  of  this  class  of  advertis- 
ing media  can  be  measured  much  more  readily  than 
that  of  any  other  kind  of  signs.  The  companies  con- 
trolling street-car,  elevated  and  subway  advertising 
obtain  from  the  transportation  companies  records  of 
the  fares  collected,  and  the  cost  of  space  is  based  to  an 
extent  on  these  figures. 

The  standard  street-car  card  is  twenty-one  by 
eleven  inches,  and  one  of  the  arguments  in  favor  of 
the  medium  is  the  fact  that  each  advertiser  is  given 
the  same  size  of  display.  Contracts  are  made  for  one 
year  as  a  minimum,  two,  three  or  five  years.  In 
many  localities  the  six  months'  contract  is  being  elimi- 
nated, and  effort  is  made  to  induce  the  advertiser  to 
contract  on  the  five-year  basis,  because  it  has  been 
found  that  more  five-year  contracts  are  renewed  than 
contracts  for  any  other  period. 

Most  of  the  space  in  street  cars  is  now  sold  by  one 
organization,  the  Street  Railway  Advertising  As- 
sociation.   The  prices  in  each  community  depend  on 


ADVERTISING  MEDIA  131 

the  number  of  street  cars  in  operation.  An  adver- 
tiser buys  a  "full  run,"  which  means  a  space  in  all 
the  cars,  or  a  "half  run,"  which  means  that  his  cards 
appear  in  half  of  the  cars.  Ten  years  ago  some  ad- 
vertisers used  double  space  in  "half  runs"  instead  of 
single  space  in  "full  runs."  Double  space,  however, 
is  no  longer  sold;  all  advertisers  are  given  equal  op- 
portunity for  display. 

Street-car  advertising  differs  from  most  other  sign 
advertising  in  the  fact  that  the  public  sees  the  dis- 
play at  a  time  when  it  has  very  little  else  to  do  ex- 
cept to  read  the  advertisements.  This  medium  takes 
advantage  of  the  forced  idleness  of  the  street-car  pas- 
senger at  a  time  when  his  range  of  vision  is  confined 
to  the  interior  of  the  car  in  which  he  is  riding,  and 
when  there  is  little  to  distract  his  attention  from  the 
message  of  the  advertisers. 

15.  Theater  signs. — Since  the  introduction  of  mov- 
ing pictures,  another  great  advertising  medium  has 
been  added.  For  a  long  time  many  theater  proprie- 
tors have  sold  display  space  on  their  drop  curtain, 
but  the  theater  as  a  place  to  reach  the  masses  with  ad- 
vertisements did  not  fully  come  into  its  own  until  tlie 
moving  picture  brought  millions  to  the  houses  of 
amusement  regularly.  Many^  ingenious  variations  of 
theater  advertising  have  been  introduced.  The  most 
common  is  the  stereopticon  slide  which  national  ad- 
vertisers furnish  to  their  retail  dealers  and  which  the 
retailers  arrange  to  have  displayed  in  local  theaters. 

Some  national  advertisers  send  out  to  a  regular  dis- 


132  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

tributing  agency  moving  pictures  of  their  processes 
of  manufacture  and  the  uses  of  their  goods.  An  ex- 
pensive campaign  of  this  kind  was  conducted  by  the 
Du  Pont  Powder  Company,  showing  "Farming  With 
Dynamite." 

Films  of  this  nature  vary  from  250  feet  to  1,000 
feet  in  length.  The  showing  of  the  film  is  usually  ar- 
ranged either  with  a  film  distributing  agency  or  locally 
with  individual  picture  houses  by  the  advertiser's  sales- 
men or  by  his  dealers. 

This  medium  is  still  far  from  standardization. 
When  one  central  organization  can  present  an  adver- 
tiser or  his  agent  with  definite  circulation  records  of 
all  of  the  moving  picture  houses  and  the  cities  of  vary- 
ing sizes  thruout  the  country  and  can  guarantee  show- 
ings on  specific  dates  at  the  discretion  of  its  advertiser, 
just  as  the  National  Out  Door  Bureau  does  for  posters 
and  painted  bulletins  and  as  the  Street  Railway  Ad- 
vertising Company  does  for  street  car  cards,  then 
theater  advertising  may  be  purchased  intelligently. 

There  is  nothing  to  prevent  the  moving  picture 
houses  following  the  lead  of  the  magazines  in  letting 
advertising  revenue  carry  part  of  the  editorial  burden. 

When  some  genius  of  organization  makes  this 
space  available  to  advertisers  on  a  business  basis  your 
moving  picture  program  will  be  similar  to  the  contents 
of  a  magazine — advertising,  a  comic,  a  short  story, 
some  epigrammatic  editorial,  the  feature  story,  and 
then  some  more  advertising. 

16.  Why  there  are  not  more  media, — Every  now 


ADVERTISING  IMEDIA  133 

and  then  someone  thinks  that  he  has  discovered  a  new 
medium — signs  on  ice  tickets,  on  bread  tickets,  in  shoe 
shining  parlors  or  magazine  holders,  on  telephone 
stands,  or  in  passenger  elevators.  Why  doesn't  some- 
one obtain  leases  for  signs  on  all  passenger  elevators 
in  America  ?  There  is  an  enormous  circulation.  The 
reason  is  that  no  one  has  put  the  purchase  of  such 
space  on  a  business  basis  of  circulation  so  that  it  may 
be  bought  intelligently  in  relation  to  the  circulation 
of  other  media.  That  is  one  reason.  The  other  is 
that  the  capital  involved  in  manufacture — gathering 
the  leases,  erecting  the  racks  and  building  up  an  or- 
ganization is  so  great  that  no  one  has  as  yet  considered 
the  venture  profitable. 

REVIEW 

What  is  the  size  of  an  eight-page  poster?  A  twelve-sheet?  A 
sixteen  sheet?     A  twenty-four  sheet? 

What  is  the  most  effective  dealer  sign  you  have  ever  seen? 
Could  something  similar  be  used  in  your  business  ? 

On  Broadway,  New  York,  in  the  electric  sign  center  of  the 
country,  there  is  an  elaborate  and  expensive  moving  electrical 
display,  advertising  a  certain  brand  of  spool  silk.  Would  you 
consider  such  a  sign  for  such  a  product  a  good  advertising  invest- 
ment?    Why? 

Some  people  object  on  esthetic  grounds  to  posters  and  painted 
bulletins.  In  considering  the  use  of  these  media^  to  what  ex- 
tent should  the  advertiser  give  weight  to  such  objections? 

For  the  business  with  which  you  are  connected,  could  periodical 
advertising  media  be  used  advantageously?     If  so,  which  ones? 


CHAPTER  IX 

WEIGHING  CIRCULATION 

1.  The  value  of  an  advertising  medium. — There 
are  two  problems  in  selecting  an  advertising  medium. 
First,  what  class  of  media  should  be  used?  Sec- 
ond, in  the  class  or  classes  chosen,  which  particular 
media  will  aid  the  most  in  accomplishing  the  de- 
sired purpose?  In  this  chapter  we  are  to  present 
certain  considerations  which  will  help  in  solving  both 
of  these  problems.  There  are  some  questions  to  be 
asked  about  any  class  of  media  before  one  can  prop- 
erly choose  it  in  an  advertising  campaign,  and  there 
are  other  questions  to  be  asked  and  answered  about 
individual  media  to  determine  their  comparative  abil- 
ity to  aid  the  advertiser.  Ordinarily  it  is  not  enough 
to  listen  to  the  claims  of  those  who  present  the  merits 
of  different  media,  there  is  much  that  the  advertiser  or 
his  agent  must  do  to  supplement  the  available  data 
about  the  different  forms  of  direct  media,  periodicals 
and  signs  before  he  can  be  sure  that  he  has  selected 
just  the  right  methods  of  carrying  his  advertising  mes- 
sage to  that  part  of  the  public  that  he  wants  to  reach. 

The  value  of  any  advertising  medium  is  determined 
mainly  by  the  answers  to  two  questions: 

134 


WEIGHING  CIRCULATION  135 

1.  What  is  the  cost  per  possible  purchaser  reached 

by  the  medium? 

2.  What  is  the  prestige  of  the  medium  in  the  minds 

of  possible  purchasers? 

Only  the  first  of  these  questions  is  considered  in 
the  present  chapter.  It  should  be  noted  that  this 
question  does  not  refer  to  the  cost  per  reader.  Cost 
per  reader  and  cost  per  possible  purchaser  are  two 
very  different  things.  If  an  advertiser  wished  to 
know  the  cost  per  reader,  all  he  would  have  to  do 
would  be  to  divide  the  advertising  rate  for  the  unit 
of  space  by  the  number  of  subscribers  and  other 
readers  of  the  publication.  A  page  rate  of  $1,000,  in 
other  words,  divided  by  a  proved  circulation  of  100,- 
000,  would  give  a  cost  of  one  cent  a  page  for  each 
reader  of  the  periodical.  Unfortunately,  however, 
each  reader  is  not  necessarily  a  possible  purchaser  of 
the  advertiser's  goods,  nor  does  every  reader  of  a  me- 
dium necessarily  see  every  advertisement  in  it;  there- 
fore it  is  necessary  to  consider  other  things  than  mere 
numerical  circulation. 

2.  Cost  per  possible  purchaser. — Every  advertiser 
must  decide  how  much  he  can  afford  to  pay  to  reach 
every  possible  purchaser  to  whom  a  medium  might 
appeal.  This  is  a  difficult  matter,  the  decision  vary- 
ing with  each  individual  case.  The  factors  involved 
are  well  illustrated  by  the  answer  of  an  advertising 
man  who  was  once  asked,  "If  you  had  only  one  pos- 
sible  purchaser   in   the   United   States,   how  would 


136  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

you  undertake  to  advertise  to  him?  Would  it  be 
advisable  to  use  any  advertising  under  such  a  circum- 
stance?" He  replied:  "If  I  owned  a  mine  valued' 
at  $10,000,000  and  wished  to  sell  it  to  one  steel  mag- 
nate in  the  United  States  who  could  afford  to  buy  it, 
and  this  man  was  not  approachable  in  the  beginning 
thru  personal  salesmanship,  I  might  be  willing  to 
spend  many  thousand  dollars  in  advertising  that  mine 
to  that  one  man.  My  problem  would  be  to  study 
him  and  to  use  every  advertising  medium  which  would 
reach  him.  I  should  attempt  to  find  his  favorite  pub- 
lication, and  I  could  afford  to  take  full  pages  or  even 
double  pages  in  that  publication.  If  I  found  that  he 
had  no  antipathy  for  signs,  I  might  arrange  to  have 
signs  placed  near  his  favorite  drive,  facing  his  office 
window,  facing  his  favorite  window  in  his  favorite 
club  and  every  other  place  where  he  might  be  ex- 
pected to  be.  I  should  be  willing  to  spend  several 
thousand  dollars  on  a  booklet  telling  of  my  mine  and 
of  the  opportunities  it  afforded.  I  should  adver- 
tise to  this  man's  friends,  that  they  might  talk 
about  my  mine.  In  a  case  of  this  kind  I  could 
afford  to  spend  thousands  of  dollars  per  possible 
purchaser." 

Fortunately,  there  is  more  than  one  possible  pur- 
chaser for  most  advertised  articles,  but  the  things  to 
be  considered  in  the  selection  of  media  remain  the 
sam^e,  regardless  of  the  number  of  people  whom  the 
advertiser  hopes  to  reach.  The  cost  per  possible  pur- 
chaser is  not  a  simple  problem ;  it  involves  a  variety  of 


WEIGHING  CIRCULATION  137 

considerations  which  have  to  be  correlated  and  har- 
monized before  the  final  answer  is  given. 

The  advertiser  should  begin  his  task  of  selecting 
media  with  the  idea,  already  emphasized  in  a  pre- 
ceding chapter,  that  no  particular  class  of  media  is 
better  than  any  other  particular  class.  It  all  depends 
on  the  purposes  for  which  the  media  are  to  be  used. 
Some  are  seemingly  good  for  all  kinds  of  advertising 
campaigns ;  others  are  more  restricted  in  their  appeal. 
Whether  one  medium  or  another  is  better  for  any 
particular  purpose  depends  on  the  people  the  adver- 
tiser is  trying  to  reach,  the  product  that  he  wants  to 
sell  and  the  specific  results  that  he  hopes  to  accomplish 
with  his  advertising. 

3.  Discovering  the  typical  purchaser. — The  first 
thing  to  do  in  selecting  media  is  to  have  a  clear  idea 
of  the  people  to  be  reached.  Who  is  the  typical  cus- 
tomer? Advertising  is  a  mass  appeal,  and  separate 
individuals  cannot  be  appealed  to  separately.  The 
group  alone  can  be  considered,  and,  before  advertising 
to  that  group  can  be  successfully  undertaken,  it  is 
necessary  for  the  advertiser  to  have  a  definite  idea  in 
his  mind  of  the  typical  member  of  the  group.  Cer- 
tain questions  are  to  be  asked  in  establishing  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  typical  purchaser,  and  in  the  answers 
to  those  questions  the  advertiser  often  finds  that  cer- 
tain media  are  naturally  eliminated  from  the  cam- 
paign, and  that  others  naturally  present  themselves  as 
worthy  of  consideration. 

The  statement  that  the  advertiser  should  address 


188  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

his  message  to  the  typical  purchaser  is  subject  to  one 
qualification.  Sometimes  the  actual  purchaser  of  an 
article  is  not  the  one  who  really  influences  the  pur- 
chase. The  head  of  the  household  actually  buys  the 
piano,  the  automobile,  and  the  talking  machine;  yet 
in  very  many  cases  he  would  never  buy  these  things 
if  he  were  not  influenced  to  do  so  by  some  member  of 
the  family.  Occasionally  the  small  boy  of  the  family 
has  much  to  say  about  the  kind  of  car  to  be  bouglit; 
accordingly  some  automobile  manufacturers  adver- 
tise in  boys'  magazines.  The  mother  and  her  daugh- 
ters usually  decide  what  piano  or  talking  machine  is 
to  be  purchased;  therefore  these  articles  are  exten- 
sively advertised  in  women's  publications.  A  few 
makers  of  men's  clothing,  even,  have  advertised  in 
magazines  appealing  chiefly  to  women,  in  the  belief 
that  women  often  influence  their  husbands  in  the  mat- 
ter of  buying  clothes.  The  typical  purchaser,  for  the 
purposes  of  the  advertiser,  is  the  one  who  induces  the 
purchase  of  a  commodity,  no  matter  whether  he  or 
someone  else  actually  furnishes  the  money  to  buy  it. 
4.  Geographical  conditions. — First,  is  the  market 
in  which  we  wish  to  sell  our  goods  national,  terri- 
torial or  local?  If  it  is  restricted  to  a  specific  lo- 
cality, we  must  choose  local  media  only.  I>ocal 
media  are  chiefly  newspapers  and  the  various  kinds 
of  signs.  Magazines,  on  the  other  hand,  are  the  most 
commonly  used  national  media.  A  national  cam- 
paign, of  course,  may  employ  local  media  as  well  as 
those  of  general  circulation. 


WEIGHING  CIRCULATION  139 

In  a  local  campaign  an  advertiser  may  wish  to  con- 
centrate his  sales  and  advertising  activity  in  one  part 
of  a  community.  He  is  helped  to  do  this  by  some 
newspapers  that  divide  their  statements  of  circula- 
tion so  that  the  advertiser  can  tell  how  much  of  it  goes 
to  the  city  proper,  how  much  to  the  suburbs  and  how 
much  to  the  surrounding  country.  A  few  of  the 
larger  newspapers  even  go  so  far  as  to  indicate  on 
maps  the  number  of  copies  that  go  to  the  various  sec- 
tions of  the  city.  Similarly,  in  the  case  of  magazines, 
many  publishers  now  provide  statements  of  circula- 
tion by  states,  to  enable  the  advertiser  to  choose  the 
medium  that  goes  most  intensively  into  the  territory 
he  wants  particularly  to  cultivate.  Detailed  cir- 
culation statements  of  this  sort  are  required  of  those 
publications  that  are  members  of  the  Audit  Bureau 
of  Circulations. 

In  the  geographical  study  of  the  advertiser's  prob- 
lem the  second  question  is  this:  Is  the  typical  pur- 
chaser to  be  found  in  cities,  in  small  towns,  or  in  rural 
districts?  If  the  purchaser  is  to  be  found  in  the  city, 
the  advertiser  may  use  city  newspapers,  signs,  posters, 
bulletins  or  street-car  cards  when  the  market  is  lo- 
cal. If  it  is  national,  he  may  use  these  media  to- 
gether with  certain  magazines.  On  the  other  hand, 
if  his  typical  possible  purchaser  is  in  the  small  towns, 
he  may  use  what  are  known  as  "small-town  maga- 
zines," and  possibly  the  country  weeklies  as  well.  In 
the  country  he  must  rely  chiefly  on  the  agricultural 
publications. 


140  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

Of  course,  geographical  considerations  have  noth-; 
ing  to  do  with  the  use  of  direct  media.  They  mayi 
be  used  to  reach  possible  purchasers  anywhere. 

5.  Social  conditions. — As  we  study  our  typical  pur-i 
chaser,  we  see  how  carefully  the  different  advertising' 
media  have  planned  to  reach  different  groups.  The 
first  question  in  determining  the  social  standing  of; 
possible  purchasers  is:  Will  the  purchase  usually  he 
made  by  men,  by  women  or  by  children?  The  sec-i 
ond  question  is:  Are  the  goods  intended  for  the^ 
rich,  the  middle  class  of  people  or  the  poor?  There! 
are  few  commodities  that  are  purchased  only  by  men,  \ 
or  only  by  women,  or  only  by  children.  There  arei 
few,  also,  that  are  purchased  only  by  the  rich,  the; 
middle  class  or  the  poor.  The  advertiser's  problem  is ' 
to  find  to  which  of  these  classes  he  is  to  make  most- 
of  his  sales,  and  then  pick  the  media  that  seem  to  cir-  \ 
culate  most  effectively  among  those  classes.  If  sales  j 
are  to  be  made  in  any  quantity  to  several  classes,  he 
must  consider  each  class  as  a  problem  by  itself,  and^ 
pick  different  kinds  of  media  which  will  reach  the  i 
greatest  number  of  possible  customers  with  the  least  i 
waste  circulation. 

In  fixing  the  social  position  of  the  typical  pur-  ' 
chaser,  the  advertiser  asks  a  third  question:  Is  the  1 
purchase  made  by  family  groups  or  by  individuals?  : 
Vacuum  cleaners  are  seldom  sold  to  bachelors  in  \ 
boarding  houses.  Even  tho  it  might  be  advisable  for 
educational  purposes  to  advertise  certain  articles  of  \ 
household  use  to  unmarried  people,  an  advertising  J 


WEIGHING  CIRCULATION  141 

medium  going  only  to  unmarried  people  (if  there 
were  such  a  mediimi)  would  be  of  little  value  in  a 
campaign  to  sell  articles  of  this  sort. 

Still  another  question  is  this:  Is  the  purchase 
made  by  young,  middle-aged  or  old  people?  A 
manufacturer  considered  a  certain  magazine  an  ideal 
medium  for  him  until  it  was  found  that  the  magazine 
circulated  chiefly  among  the  middle-aged,  while  his 
product  could  be  sold  only  to  young  people.  A  fash- 
ionable tailor,  who  has  the  greatest  portion  of  the 
wealthy  trade  in  a  western  city,  says:  "While  the 
majority  of  my  customers  are  men  of  middle  age,  have 
you  noticed  that  I  advertise  only  to  young  men? 
When  a  young  man  begins  to  consider  tailor-made 
clothing  he  has  passed  the  age  of  to-be-a-man-I -must- 
look-like-papa.  He  begins  to  think  the  old  man  is 
a  little  seedy.  Just  at  that  age,  also,  a  father  is  very 
proud  of  his  son.  I  have  found  that  you  cannot  ex- 
pect a  young  man's  trade  just  because  you  hold  his 
father's  trade,  but  that  you  can  often  get  the  father's 
trade  thru  the  son." 

The  advertiser  is  fortunate  who  is  able  to  divide 
and  subdivide  the  people  in  his  market  until  he  has 
an  exact  picture  of  the  typical  group  to  which  he 
wishes  to  talk.  Perhaps  he  is  selling  only  to  pro- 
fessional men,  or  only  to  clerks,  or  only  to  skilled 
mechanics.  Perhaps  his  product  appeals  only  to 
mothers,  perhaps  only  to  society  women.  A  woman 
may  be  both  a  mother  and  a  society  woman.  The  ad- 
vertiser must  decide  to  which  side  of  a  woman's  na- 

XIII— 11 


142  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

ture  he  is  to  appeal,  and  pick  his  media  accordingly. 
If  he  is  advertising  to  men,  he  must  use  media  that 
appeal  to  those  interests  of  men  to  which  his  own  prod- 
uct appeals.  A  magazine  dealing  with  out-door 
sport,  even  tho  circulated  only  among  men,  would 
scarcely  be  a  desirable  medium  for  office  furniture. 
The  ideal  medium  would  be  one  devoted  to  men's  busi- 
ness interests. 

For  nearly  every  group  of  people  there  is  one  avail- 
able medium,  and  before  the  advertiser  can  determine 
the  value  of  any  medium  to  him  he  must  dis- 
cover the  particular  social  group  to  which  it  makes 
its  appeal. 

6.  Circulation  statements. — ^We  have  been  consid- 
ering questions  to  be  asked  and  answered  by  the  ad- 
vertiser in  selecting,  first,  the  kind  of  media  to  be 
used,  and  second,  the  particular  media  to  be  chosen 
in  any  class.  The  remainder  of  this  chapter  is  con- 
cerned chiefly  with  factors  in  the  comparison  of  in- 
dividual media  rather  than  in  the  selection  of  broad 
groups  of  media  for  the  advertiser's  campaign.  Geo- 
graphical and  social  considerations,  in  other  words, 
help  the  advertiser  to  decide  whether  or  not  to  use 
magazines,  and  if  he  is  to  use  magazines,  whether 
to  use  publications  that  appeal  chiefly  to  men,  women 
or  children;  masses  or  classes,  young  or  old,  etc. 
If  he  is  to  use  women's  magazines,  for  instance, 
these  considerations  also  help  him  somewhat  in 
choosing  from  the  many  women's  publications  cov- 
ering the  fields  he  wants  to  reach.    There  are  other 


WEIGHING  CIRCULATION  143 

things  to  be  considered,  however,  in  selecting  indi- 
vidual media  in  any  group.  The  things  to  be 
studied  fall  chiefly  under  two  heads:  circulation  (in- 
cluding rates)   and  prestige. 

The  problem  of  finding  the  exact  circulation  of  a 
medium  is  by  no  means  so  easy  as  it  may  seem.  This 
fact  is  partly,  altho  by  no  means  entirely,  the  reason 
for  the  rather  slow  development  of  demand  on  the 
part  of  advertisers  for  exact  statements  of  circula- 
tion and  of  willingness  on  the  part  of  publishers  to 
comply  with  these  demands.  The  progress  of  adver- 
tising may  be  traced  by  the  different  stages  in  the 
development  of  accurate  and  complete  statements  of 
circulation. 

The  circulation  of  an  advertising  medium  is  con- 
stantly changing.  Even  in  the  case  of  direct  me- 
diums, which  are  entirely  under  the  control  of  the 
advertiser,  there  is  always  the  "death"  rate  to  be  con- 
sidered. People  are  constantly  moving  from  place 
to  place,  and  the  list  of  names  must  be  kept  up  to 
date.  It  is  estimated  that  in  ordinary  business  lines 
twenty  per  cent  of  any  mailing  list  "dies"  every  year; 
in  other  words,  twenty  per  cent  of  the  names  or  ad- 
dresses must  be  eliminated  or  changed. 

Newspapers  are  largely  sold  by  newsboys  on  the 
street,  and  mucli  of  this  circulation  may  be  transient. 
Ninety-eight  per  cent  of  the  circulation  of  some  mag- 
azines is  news-stand  circulation,  and  news-stand  cir- 
culation may  or  may  not  mean  either  the  same  readers 
or  the  same  number  of  readers  from  month  to  month. 


144.  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

Even  when  magazines  go  chiefly  to  subscribers,  new 
subscribers  are  constantly  being  added  to  the  lists  and 
old  subscribers  taken  off.  It  was  natural,  therefore, 
for  publishers  to  be  slow  in  approaching  such  a  diffi- 
cult task  as  the  preparation  of  circulation  statements 
of  sufficient  accuracy  and  completeness  to  make  them 
of  any  value  to  the  advertiser. 

Nevertheless,  an  advertising  rate  is  necessarily 
based  on  the  amount  of  circulation,  and  advertisers 
are  becoming  more  and  more  insistent  as  to  the  quan- 
tity and  quality  of  the  circulation  they  buy.  Circula- 
tion statements  have  in  the  past  been  indefinite,  and 
often  justly  open  to.  suspicion. 

7.  History  of  circulation  statements. — In  1868, 
Mr.  George  P.  Rowell  introduced  a  plan  of  insuring 
reliability  of  circulation  statements.  Publishers  were 
asked  to  furnish  to  him  statements  of  circulation,  de- 
positing a  forfeit  of  $100  each.  The  amount  de- 
posited by  each  publisher  was  offered  as  a  prize  to 
any  person  finding  his  circulation  statement  to  be 
false. 

Another  of  the  early  plans  looking  toward  accurate 
statements  of  circulation  was  conceived  by  a  western 
advertiser,  Colonel  Emery  Mapes  of  the  Cream  of 
Wheat  Company.  He  asked  each  publication  to 
guarantee  a  certain  amount  of  circulation  on  which  its 
rate  was  based,  with  the  understanding  that  his  own 
auditors  should  be  allowed  to  audit  the  circulation,  and 
that,  if  it  was  found  not  equal  to  the  amount  guaran- 
teed, he  should  be  rebated  pro  rata.     This  plan  was 


WEIGHING  CIRCULATION  145 

so  successful  that  several  magazines  later  guaranteed 
their  circulation  to  all  advertisers  offering  a  pro  rata 
refund  in  case  the  circulation  of  any  issue  did  not 
equal  the  guaranteed  circulation  on  which  the  adver- 
tising rate  is  based. 

Prior  to  the  organization  of  the  Audit  Bureau  of 
Circulations  there  were  a  number  of  private  auditing 
associations,  many  of  them  performing  a  useful  serv- 
ice. The  idea  was  conceived  of  bringing  all  these 
associations  together  in  one  organization  composed  of 
publishers,  advertising  agents  and  advertisers,  the 
membership  dues  to  be  spent  in  thoro  audits  of  cir- 
culation for  the  common  benefit  of  the  members.  In 
this  way  the  Audit  Bureau  of  Circulations  was  born. 

Practically  all  the  magazines,  farm  papers,  trade 
papers  and  daily  newspapers  are  now  members.  This 
solves  the  problem  so  far  as  the  publications  carry- 
ing 80  per  cent  of  the  volume  of  periodical  adver- 
tising is  concerned.  There  are  thousands  of  weekly 
papers  which  are  not  yet  members,  however,  despite 
the  fact  that  the  minimum  membership  fee  is  $50  a 
year,  while  the  minimum  audit  costs  the  bureau  $85. 

8.  Duplication  of  circulation. — Most  people  read 
more  than  one  magazine  or  newspaper.  The  adver- 
tiser sometimes  finds  it  advisable  to  determine  to  what 
extent  the  circulation  of  the  periodicals  he  is  consider- 
ing is  "duplicated" — that  is,  the  number  of  readers 
of  one  medium  who  are  also  reached  by  other  medi- 
ums. Some  advertisers  have  contended  that  dupli- 
cated circulation  is  largely  waste  circulation — that  if 


146  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

magazine  A  and  magazine  B  each  has  a  circulation 
of  10,000,  and  if  fifty  per  cent  of  the  readers  of 
magazine  A  are  also  readers  of  magazine  B,  the  latter 
medium  is  not  of  so  much  value  to  an  advertiser  as 
magazine  C  would  be,  also  with  10,000  circulation 
but  reaching  a  group  of  readers  few  of  whom  are 
subscribers  to  magazine  A.  In  this  case  magazines 
A  and  B  would  be  said  to  have  a  fifty  per  cent  dupli- 
cated circulation. 

Duplicated  circulation  is  not  necessarily  a  bad 
thing;  it  may  be  a  very  good  thing,  if  the  advertiser 
can  afford  to  pay  for  it.  An  advertiser  conducting 
an  intensive  local  campaign  will  use  newspapers, 
street  cars,  posters  and  other  mediums,  with  full 
knowledge  that  the  people  who  read  his  advertise- 
ments in  the  newspapers  will  also  be  likely  to  see  the 
street-car  cards  and  his  other  sign  media.  He  is 
anxious  that  they  should;  he  realizes  that  the  average 
purchaser  needs  to  be  influenced  many  times  in  many 
ways  before  he  will  buy.  In  like  manner,  the  inten- 
sive advertiser  will  use  several  periodical  media, 
many  of  which  are  read  by  the  same  people,  in  the 
well-founded  belief  that  an  advertising  appeal  that 
comes  several  times  to  the  attention  of  the  reader  will 
be  more  effective  than  if  it  came  before  him  only 
once.  The  intensive  advertiser  further  realizes  that 
an  advertisement  in  a  single  medium  may  not  even 
be  seen  by  many  readers  of  that  medium,  while,  if  it 
appears  in  several  media,  the  reader  who  subscribes 


WEIGHING  CIRCULATION  147 

for  all  of  them  will  be  likely  to  see  the  advertisement 
at  least  once. 

Every  advertiser,  however,  cannot  be  an  intensive 
advertiser.  A  man  with  a  limited  appropriation  may 
find  it  more  advisable  to  reach  20,000  people  by  using 
two  magazines,  each  with  a  10,000  circulation,  than 
to  reach  only  15,000  by  using  two  other  magazines, 
each  with  a  circulation  of  10,000,  but  with  a  fifty  per 
cent  duplication.  To  advertisers  of  this  sort,  and 
also  to  advertisers  who  wish  to  cultivate  their  field 
intensively  but  who  properly  wish  to  control  the  de- 
gree of  intensity  of  their  advertising  efforts,  the  prob- 
lem of  duplication  in  circulation  is  an  important  one. 

9.  Extent  of  duplication. — There  is  much  dupli- 
cated circulation  among  all  media.  Scarcely  any  two 
mediums  can  be  found,  no  matter  how  widely  dif- 
ferent they  may  be  in  kind  and  appeal,  that  do  not 
show  some  duplication  of  circulation.  It  is  estimated 
that  there  are  not  over  10,000,000  people  in  the  United 
States  who  read  the  class  of  media  technically 
known  as  magazines,  and  yet  the  total  circulation  of 
all  magazines  reported  by  the  American  Newspaper 
Annual  for  1920  was  44,706,308.  The  number  of 
people  reading  magazines  is  increasing  fast,  certainly 
much  more  rapidly  than  the  population  of  the  coun- 
try. In  190,5  the  total  circulation  of  magazines  was 
15,122,000,  while  in  1910  it  was  25,512,000.  Tlie 
duplication  of  circulation  is  probably  increasing  at 
fullv  as  fast  a  rate. 


148  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

The  most  extensive  investigation  of  the  duplica- 
tion of  circulation  yet  conducted  was  made  under 
the  auspices  of  the  Association  of  National  Adver- 
tisers in  the  summer  of  1914.  It  was  found  that  the 
circulation  of  some  magazines  duplicated  the  circula- 
tion of  others  to  the  extent  of  almost  fifty  per  cent. 
For  instance,  the  Ladies'  Home  Journal  was  found 
to  duplicate  with  the  Saturday  Evening  Post  to  the 
extent  of  forty-two  per  cent.  The  percentage  of 
duplication  in  most  cases,  however,  was  very  much 
lower  than  this. 

A  similar  inquiry  in  regard  to  newspapers  was 
made  by  Professor  Walter  Dill  Scott  among  4,000 
business  and  professional  men  in  Chicago.  The  re- 
plies show  that  in  round  numbers: 

14  per  cent  read  but  one  newspaper 

46  per  cent  read  two  newspapers 

21  per  cent  read  three  newspapers 

17  per  cent  read  four  or  more  newspapers 

84  per  cent  read  more  than  one  newspaper. 

The  same  advertisement  seen  in  two  or  three  news- 
papers is  certainly  more  effective  than  if  seen  in  one, 
but  some  advertisers  are  convinced  that  it  is  not  worth 
three  times  as  much  to  have  an  advertisement  seen 
in  three  papers,  reaching  largely  the  same  readers, 
as  it  is  to  have  it  seen  in  one. 

10.  Subscription  price  as  barometer  of  purchasing 
power. — Some  people  contend  that  the  buying  power 
of   a   consumer   can   be   determined   partly    by   the 


WEIGHING  CIRCULATION  149 

nniount  he  pays  for  a  periodical.  It  is  maintained, 
for  instance,  that  the  buying  power  of  readers  of  mag- 
azines, as  a  class,  is  greater  than  the  buying  power 
of  the  average  reader  of  a  newspaper.  This  is  prob- 
ably true;  there  may  be  some  people  who  hesitate  to 
j)ay  twenty-five  cents  for  a  magazine  and  yet  they 
can  and  do  pay  two  or  three  cents  for  a  newspaper. 
It  is  probably  true,  also,  that  the  readers  of  a  three- 
cent  newspaper  have  a  greater  individual  purchasing 
power  than  the  average  reader  of  a  cheaper  news- 
paper. It  is  not  safe  to  apply  this  principle  too  gen- 
erally, however.  Certain  magazines  sell  for  thirty- 
five  and  fifty  cents  a  copy;  possibly  their  readers 
represent  greater  average  j)urchasing  power  than  the 
readers  of  a  cheap  fiction  magazine;  this  is  by  no 
means  certain,  however,  because  ministers,  teachers 
and  others  with  relatively  small  incomes  are  found  in 
large  numbers  on  the  subscription  list  of  the  more 
expensive  periodicals,  while  popular  priced  fiction  cir- 
culates as  extensively  among  families  of  wealth  as 
among  the  less  well-to-do  classes. 

A  better  guide  to  buying  power  of  readers  than  the 
cost  of  the  periodical  is  a  careful  study  of  the  con- 
tents of  the  magazine  or  newspaper.  This  will  usu- 
ally enable  the  experienced  advertiser  to  form  a  suf- 
ficiently accurate  picture  of  the  type  of  reader  to 
which  it  appeals.  Some  publishers  now  prepare  for 
advertisers  carefully  compiled  statistics  showing  how 
many  of  their  subscribers  own  automo])iles,  how  many 
play  golf,  how  many  do  this  and  how  many  do  that. 


150  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

Such  statistics  are  helpful  in  suggesting  purchasing 
power  of  subscribers. 

11.  The  flat  rate. — Practically  all  magazine  space 
is  sold  at  the  same  price  regardless  of  the  amount  of 
space  used.  This  is  known  as  a  "flat  rate."  Many 
of  the  smaller  newspapers  also  sell  on  flat  rate;  the 
larger  newspapers,  however,  still  have  in  many  cases 
what  are  called  "sliding  scale  rates."  A  sliding  scale 
rate  is  based  on  the  number  of  lines  of  space  used  by 
an  advertiser  during  a  year.  The  advertiser  who 
uses  only  a  thousand  lines  pays,  perhaps,  fifty  per 
cent  more  per  line  than  the  advertiser  who  uses  20,- 
000  lines.  Nevertheless,  the  tendency  among  large 
as  weU  as  small  papers  is  to  adjust  their  schedules 
on  the  flat  rate  basis;  most  advertisers  prefer  this 
arrangement,  and  the  advertising  agencies  are  de- 
manding it. 

Nearly  all  agricultural  publications  sell  space  on 
the  flat  rate  basis.  Trade,  technical  and  class  pub- 
lications are  still  inclined  to  the  sliding  scale  rate, 
and  in  this  fleld  the  rates  vary  more  than  in  any 
other. 

Some  newspapers  have  two  rates,  charging  one  to 
national  advertisers  (known  in  the  newspaper  field 
as  "foreign  advertisers")  and  another  to  local  or  re- 
tail advertisers.  In  some  cases  the  national  rate  is 
lower  than  the  local  rate,  and  in  other  cases  it  is 
higher. 

12.  Preferred  position. — It  seems  to  be  estab- 
lished that  certain  parts  of  a  periodical  publication 


WEIGHING  CIRCULATION  161 

are  more  desirable  advertising  media  than  others. 
Tlie  outside  back  cover,  for  instance,  is  considered  a 
particularly  desirable  position — 90  desirable,  indeed, 
that  the  back  cover  of  the  Ladies'  Home  Journal  sells 
for  $15,000  an  issue,  while  the  regular  page  rate  is 
only  $8,000.  The  inside  cover  pages  sell  for  $12,000 
each.  There  is  preferred  position  in  newspapers  as 
well  as  in  magazines — ^top  of  column,  for  instance, 
next  to  reading  matter.  The  constant  cry  for  "posi- 
tion" is  the  bane  of  the  newspaper  publishers'  exist- 
ence. Most  of  them  protect  themselves  by  adding  a 
charge,  running  up  to  twenty-five  per  cent  of  the  regu- 
lar space  rates,  when  an  advertiser  specifies  the  par- 
ticular position  he  wents  his  advertisement  to  occupy. 

The  desire  to  have  advertisements  appear  next  to 
reading  matter  is  largely  responsible  for  the  present 
tendency  to  increase  the  size  of  the  magazine  page. 
Most  publishers  who  have  enlarged  their  pages,  still 
keep  the  advertisements  in  the  front  and  the  back  of 
their  publications,  but  they  have  few  pages  carrying 
advertisements  exclusively;  usually  there  is  a  column 
of  reading  matter  and  two  columns  of  advertisements 
on  one  of  two  facing  pages. 

13.  JVhen  to  tise  preferred  position: — In  choosing 
an  advertising  medium  the  advertiser  must  consider 
the  competition  with  other  advertisements  which  his 
advertisements  will  meet.  To  get  the  maximum 
amount  of  attention,  he  must  dominate.  If  all  other 
posters  near  his  are  sixteen-sheet  posters,  he  may  get 
more  attention  by  introducing  an  eight-sheet  poster. 


152  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

but  he  will  probably  get  most  attention  by  using  a 
twenty-four-sheet  poster.  If  a  sufficiently  increased 
number  of  people  will  see  an  advertisement  because 
it  occupies  unusually  large  space  or  because  it  oc- 
cupies preferred  position,  the  large  space  and  the 
preferred  position  are  worth  the  increased  invest- 
ment, to  the  extent  that  the  advertiser  can  afford  to 
pay  for  an  increased  number  of  readers,  and  to  the 
extent  that  the  proportionate  increase  in  cost  of 
space  actually  measures  the  increased  attention  value 
of  the  advertisement.  Some  attempt  has  been  made 
by  psychologists  to  establish  general  principles  to 
guide  the  advertiser  in  the  solution  of  this  difficult 
problem,  but  the  tests  so  far  conducted  are  not  con- 
clusive enough  for  the  average  advertiser.  Each  ad- 
vertiser must  make  his  own  experiments,  finally 
standardizing  on  the  space  and  position  that  his  own 
experience,  added  to  the  experience  of  others,  proves 
to  be  best  adapted  to  serve  his  particular  purposes. 

REVIEW 

Draw  a  mental  picture  of  the  purchaser  of  a  $3,000  automobile. 
What  media  would  you  use  to  reach  him? 

What  advertising  media  most  influence  you  in  your  buying? 
Why? 

Have  you  a  definite  concept  of  the  typical  customer  of  your 
business  ? 


CHAPTER  X 

WEIGHING  PRESTIGE 

1.  The  meaning  of  prestige. — In  weighing  the 
value  of  an  advertising  medium,  the  advertiser  first 
considers  its  circulation — the  unit  cost  of  reaching 
each  possible  purchaser.  The  careful  study  of  this 
problem  involves  all  the  things  discussed  in  the  last 
chapter.  After  weighing  circulation,  the  advertiser 
next  asks  himself  this  question:  What  is  the  pres- 
tige of  the  medium?  Prestige  means  influence. 
The  prestige  of  an  advertising  medium  is  the  influ- 
ence it  has  on  its  readers.  Its  prestige  is  measured 
by  the  confidence  of  its  advertisers.  Prestige  is  im- 
portant to  the  advertiser  because  the  degree  to 
which  readers  will  be  influenced  by  advertisements 
appearing  in  a  medium  is  largely  determined  by  their 
confidence  in  it.  No  two  media  have  exactly  the 
same  prestige;  the  advertiser's  problem  is  to  pick  out 
those  media  that  will  have  the  most  influence  on  the 
particular  class  of  people  that  he  wishes  to  reach. 

2.  Prestige  of  direct  media. — The  prestige  of  direct 
media  varies  in  three  ways.  First,  it  varies  with 
the  kind  of  the  medium.  A  sealed  letter  sent  out 
under  a  two-cent  stamp,  for  instance,  ordinarily 
carries  more  prestige  than  an  unsealed  letter  under 

168 


154  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

one-cent  postage.  Second,  the  prestige  of  a  direct 
medium  varies  with  the  quality  of  the  medium.  An 
attractive,  clean-cut  letterhead  has  more  prestige 
than  a  slovenly,  poorly  arranged  one.  A  good  ad- 
vertising specialty — a  paper-knife,  for  instance, 
strong,  durable,  attractive — has  more  prestige  than 
one  that  is  badly  constructed  and  obviously  cheap. 
Third,  every  direct  medium  shares  the  prestige  of  the 
advertiser  who  uses  it.  A  form  letter  from  a  well- 
known,  highly  respected  business  establishment  has 
more  prestige  than  an  equally  good  letter  from  a 
house  of  which  the  recipient  has  never  heard. 

3.  Prestige  of  signs. — Many  forms  of  signs  at  one 
time  had  little  prestige.  When  posters  were  pasted 
chiefly  on  fences,  dead  walls  and  everything  else 
except  when  kept  off  by  a  "Post  No  Bills"  notice, 
many  advertisers  and  many  members  of  the  public 
did  not  take  posters  very  seriously.  Now,  however, 
the  bill-posting  business  has  been  made  a  real  busi- 
ness. Bill-boards  are  standardized  media;  they 
are  placed  where  a  known  amount  of  traffic  regularly 
passes;  and  the  space  they  occupy  is  leased  and  paid 
for.  Posters,  too,  have  improved  in  character;  the 
advertiser  strives  now  for  artistic  attractiveness. 
Posters'  art  is  gradually  developing  as  a  branch  of 
art,  as  well  as  a  branch  of  advertising.  There  is  still 
some  esthetic  objection  to  all  posters,  but  this  atti- 
tude of  a  small  minority  is  certainly  not  lessening 
the  influence  of  billboards.  Poster  advertising  has 
proved  its  value  to  many  advertisers.     Signs  of  all 


WEIGHING  PRESTIGE  155 

kinds  are  steadily  gaining  in  prestige  and  in  value  as 
advertising  media. 

4.  How  prestige  works. — Mr.  John  Lee  Mahin,  in 
his  book  "Advertising — Selling  the  Consumer,"  gives 
an  interesting  illustration  of  the  way  in  which  pres- 
tige makes  itself  felt.  He  asks  you  to  assume  that 
you  are  on  the  mailing  list  of  a  bond  house,  and  that 
you  are  also  a  regular  reader  of  a  morning  paper,  a 
monthly  magazine  and  an  illustrated  weekly.  One 
morning  you  receive  from  the  bond  house  a  circular 
describing  a  new  issue  of  attractive  investment  bonds. 
It  happens,  that  same  day,  that  you  see  advertise- 
ments of  those  same  bonds  in  your  newspaper,  your 
favorite  magazine  and  your  illustrated  weekly.  As- 
sume that  in  all  cases  the  advertisements  are  well  pre- 
pared, and  each  one,  regardless  of  the  medium  in 
which  it  appears,  goes  far  toward  influencing  you  fav- 
orably with  respect  to  the  bond  issue.  Which  me- 
dium would  have  the  greatest  influence  with  you? 

If  your  purchases  from  the  bond  house  that  sends 
you  the  circular  have  been  profitable,  the  direct  adver- 
tising of  the  circular  would  probably  have  the  most 
prestige.  If  your  experiences  with  that  house,  how- 
ever, have  been  unpleasant — if  you  have  been  indif- 
ferently served,  or  if  you  have  been  dissatisfied  with 
your  purchases  for  any  reason — the  circular  will  have 
little  influence.  The  circular  would  carry  little  pres- 
tige, also,  if  you  had  never  heard  of  the  house  issu- 
ing it.  In  both  these  latter  cases,  an  advertisement 
carrying  the  prestige  of  your  favorite  newspaper 


156  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

or  magazine  would  probably  be  more  influential  than 
the  circular. 

If  a  bond  house  were  to  advertise  in  periodical 
media,  and  were  also  to  send  you  a  circular,  the 
circular  might  influence  you  favorably,  even  if  you 
had  never  heard  of  the  advertiser  before,  because  the 
advertisements  in  your  favorite  magazine  and  news- 
paper would  give  to  the  circular  a  prestige  that  it 
could  not  have  if  it  stood  alone. 

5.  Factors  in  prestige.— The  prestige  of  direct 
media  and  of  signs  cannot  be  measured  by  the  appli- 
cation of  any  formula.  Each  advertiser  must  meas- 
ure it  by  a  study  of  local  sentiment,  by  a  study  of  his 
own  past  experiences  and  the  experiences  of  others, 
and  by  a  wise  exercise  of  his  own  judgment.  There 
is  no  formula,  either,  for  weighing  the  prestige  of 
periodicals;  individual  judgment  here,  as  in  the  case 
of  the  two  other  kinds  of  media,  must  be  largely 
relied  on.  Yet,  in  the  case  of  periodicals,  there  are 
certain  tangible  factors  to  be  used  in  the  weighing 
process  which  are  usually  absent  in  measuring  the 
prestige  of  direct  media  and  signs. 

Prestige  is  the  result  of  character.  A  man's  repu- 
tation is  the  world's  estimate  of  his  character,  and 
reputation  is  based  on  habits.  The  same  thing  is  true 
of  a  periodical.  The  advertiser  can  judge  its  pres- 
tige by  considering  its  habits.  These  "habits"  are 
usually  termed  policies,  and  they  have  to  do  with 
three  different  phases  of  the  management  of  a  publi- 
cation : 


WEIGHING  PRESTIGE  157 

1.  The  policies  of  the  editorial  department 

2.  The  policies  of  the  circulation  department 

3.  The  policies  of  the  advertising  department. 

6.  Editorial  policy. — The  policies  of  the  editorial 
department  of  any  medium  have  much  to  do  with 
measuring  the  degree  to  which  advertisements  appear- 
ing in  that  medium  will  influence  its  readers.  Edi- 
torial |K)licy  largely  determines  the  reader's  attitude 
toward  everything  in  the  periodical.  Someone  has 
said:  "The  mission  of  an  advertisement  is  threefold 
— to  be  seen,  to  be  remembered  and  to  be  believed, 
and  the  greatest  of  these  is  to  be  believed."  Unless 
a  reader  believes  what  he  sees  in  the  news  columns 
he  can  scarcely  be  expected  to  have  much  faith  in 
the  advertisements.  Accuracy  of  statement,  a  record 
for  conservative  under-statement  rather  than  habitual 
publication  of  mere  rumors,  and  a  proved  desire  to 
play  fair  with  the  public,  build  for  a  publication  a 
body  of  readers  who  believe  in  it  and  in  what  it  says. 
Such  a  publication  has  prestige  of  the  first  rank.  The 
confidence  bred  by  an  editorial  policy  founded  on  a 
real  affection  for  the  truth  is  not  confined  to  the  news 
and  editorial  departments;  it  works  for  every  adver- 
tiser who  uses  such  a  medium.  The  reader  who  be- 
lieves in  his  favorite  magazine  or  newspaper  is  very 
likely  to  believe  in  the  advertisements  that  appear  in 
it. 

Editorial  policy  also  helps  the  advertiser  to  de-^ 
termine  what  kind  of  people  read  a  publication,  as 

XIII— 12 


158  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

well  as  the  length  of  time  that  the  average  reader 
may  be  expected  to  give  to  its  perusal. 

7.  Circulation  policy. — The  Audit  Bureau  of  Cir- 
culations asks  some  pertinent  questions  in  regard  to 
how  circulation  is  obtained,  in  an  effort  to  find  out 
what  prestige  the  publication  has  in  the  minds  of  its 
readers.  The  first  general  question  is:  Have  the 
readers  all  purchased  the  publication?  Publications 
are  asked  to  report  the  number  of  free  copies  circu- 
lated as  well  as  the  number  of  paid  copies.  They 
are  asked  to  report  the  number  of  copies  sold  in  bulk 
as  well  as  those  sold  to  individual  subscribers.  Pub- 
lishers are  asked  how  long  subscribers  are  carried  in 
arrears,  and  What  proportion  of  their  subscribers  are 
in  arrears. 

In  the  case  of  a  subscription  publication  the  per- 
centage of  annual  renewals  is  a  guide  to  the  number 
of  people  who  consider  the  publication  necessary. 
Voluntary  renewals  of  subscriptions  are  valuable  in- 
dications of  prestige. 

Newspapers  are  also  asked  to  divide  their  circula- 
tion by  editions,  stating  the  hour  each  edition  is  pub- 
lished. Some  advertisers  believe  that  the  time  of  day 
when  a  reader  receives  a  publication  is  a  measure  of 
the  degree  of  thoroness  with  which  it  is  read.  If  a 
medium  is  only  hastily  perused,  the  reader's  attention 
is  not  likely  to  be  held  very  long  by  the  advertise- 
ments appearing  in  it. 

8.  Morning  and  evening  papers. — INIorning  and 
evening  papers  are  frequently  in  competition,  and 


WEIGHING  PRESTIGE  169 

their  publishers  set  up  competing  claims  of  superior- 
ity for  their  publications  as  advertising  media.  Some 
morning  papers  see  no  good  in  evening  papers,  and 
some  evening  papers  see  no  good  in  morning  papers. 
Each  kind  of  publication  has  its  partisans  among 
advertisers.  The  controversy  leads  into  a  discussion 
of  the  habits  of  people  in  different  localities — what 
proportion  of  the  morning  papers  are  read  by  men 
on  their  way  to  work  and  are  little  seen  by  women 
in  the  home,  what  proportion  of  the  population  spends 
its  evenings  at  places  of  amusement  instead  of 
quietly  at  home  in  the  company  of  the  evening 
newspaper,  and  a  variety  of  similar  considera- 
tions. The  fact  seems  to  be  that  neither  morning 
nor  evening  papers,  as  a  class,  can  claim  superior- 
ity. Both  have  been  proved  to  be  good  advertising 
media.  In  some  comnmnities,  it  is  true,  an  evening 
paper  is  the  recognized  leader,  while  in  others  a  morn- 
ing paper  leads  as  the  better  medium ;  but,  where  this 
is  the  case,  the  superiority  seldom  results  from  the 
fact  that  tlie  leader  is  an  evening  or  a  morning 
paper — usually  it  is  due  to  other  elements  of  pres- 
tige entirely  independent  of  the  time  when  the  paper 
is  issued. 

9.  Sales  and  subscription  magazines. — A  sales 
magazine  is  one  sold  chiefly  at  news-stands  or  by 
newsboys.  A  subscription  magazine  is  one  sent 
chiefly  to  regular  subscribers.  Kach,  as  an  adver- 
tising medium,  has  its  advocates.  Those  in  favor  of 
news-stand  circulation  sav  that  when  a  reader  takes 


160  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

the  trouble  to  buy  any  particular  issue  of  a  maga- 
zine at  a  news-stand,  it  argues  a  real  value  which  he 
attaches  to  that  issue,  and  he  is  likely  to  read  it  care- 
fully; while  certain  issues  of  a  subscription  maga- 
zine, coming  periodically  thruout  the  \^ear,  may  be 
left  unread  or  only  hastily  perused.  The  advocates 
of  subscription  magazines  maintain  that  subscription 
circulation  usually  means  home  circulation;  further- 
more, a  subscription  to  a  magazine  implies  prestige — 
it  means  a  definite  desire  for  the  publication  on  the 
part  of  the  subscriber. 

The  truth  probably  lies  in  the  fact  that  no  periodi- 
cal is  a  good  or  a  bad  advertising  medium  just  be- 
cause it  has  a  news-stand  circulation  or  because  it  has 
a  regular  circulation  among  subscribers.  Here,  as 
in  the  controversy  between  evening  and  morning 
papers,  value  as  an  advertising  medium  is  chiefly  de- 
termined by  elements  of  prestige  in  the  minds  of  read- 
ers, entirely  independent  of  the  ways  in  which,  or  the 
time  at  which,  the  publication  is  purchased.  If  a 
magazine  is  sold  largely  at  news-stands,  the  adver- 
tiser wants  to  know  where  the  stands  are  situated 
and  the  class  of  people  who  patronize  them.  The 
people  who  buy  a  publication  are  more  important  than 
the  way  in  which  they  buy  it. 

10.  Advertising  poUcy. — Editorial  policy  is  impor- 
tant to  the  advertiser  because  it  serves  as  a  general 
guide  to  the  kind  of  people  who  read  a  periodical  and 
to  the  amount  of  influence  the  medium  is  likely  to 
have  with  its  readers.     Circulation  policy  is  impor- 


WEIGHING  PRESTIGE  161 

tant  because  it  indicates  the  actual  value  placed  on  a 
medium  by  those  who  read  it.  Both  editorial  policy 
and  circulation  policy,  therefore,  are  important  aids 
in  the  advertiser's  task  of  weighing  prestige.  But 
more  important,  perhaps,  than  either  of  these  is  the 
policy  of  the  advertising  department.  An  adver- 
tisement, like  a  man,  is  known  by  the  company  it 
keeps.  An  advertising  policy  that  directs  the  ac- 
ceptance of  any  advertisement  offered  to  a  periodical, 
is  likely  to  put  an  advertiser  in  bad  company.  The 
prestige  of  a  publication  largely  depends  on  the  de- 
sire and  ability  of  the  publisher  to  publish  only  such 
advertisements  as  are  honest  and  do  not  offend  the 
taste  or  morals  of  its  readers.  A  publication  is  not 
a  public  institution.  It  may  accept  or  reject  such 
advertisements  as  it  pleases.  The  publication 
that  makes  no  rejections  is  likely  to  have  little  pres- 
tige. 

The  movement  toward  the  censoring  of  advertise- 
ments has  two  phases.  One  is  the  tendency,  dictated 
either  by  policy  or  conviction,  to  exclude  advertise- 
ments— medical  and  tobacco  advertisements,  for  ex- 
ample— that  might  offend  some  portion  of  the  readers 
of  a  publication.  The  other  is  the  tendency  to  protect 
readers  against  loss  by  excluding  dishonest  advertise- 
ments. Probably  the  first  step  in  the  campaign 
against  dishonesty  in  advertising  was  to  exclude  those 
patent  medicine  advertisements  that  made  exagger- 
ated claims.  In  order  to  be  sure  that  they  are  on  the 
safe  side,  many  periodicals  now  exclude  all  advertise- 


162  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

ments  of  patent  medicines,  fegardless  of  their  word- 
ing. 

The  second  step  in  the  campaign  for  honest  ad- 
vertising was  the  careful  study  of  all  advertisements 
submitted  to  a  publication,  to  the  end  that  the  pub- 
lisher might  be  certain  his  readers  would  not  be  de- 
frauded or  even  misled  by  anything  appearing  in  his 
advertising  columns.  This  important  movement  has 
made  tremendous  strides.  Only  a  few  years  ago  al- 
most any  advertisement  would  be  accepted  by  almost 
any  publication.  Today  there  are  very  few  publica- 
tions that  do  not  exclude  entirely  certain  classes  of 
what  they  believe  to  be  objectionable  advertising,  and 
which  do  not  make  some  attempt  to  convince  them- 
selves of  the  honest  purpose  of  every  applicant  for 
space.  The  extent  to  which  this  is  done  varies  in 
different  publications.  Many  publishers  actually 
guarantee  the  truth  of  every  word  in  every  advertise- 
ment appearing  in  their  columns. 

11.  Typical  advertising  policies. — Farm  journals 
in  many  cases  have  taken  an  advanced  stand  for  hon- 
est advertising.  A  typical  story  is  told  of  one  farm 
paper  that  accepted  in  good  faith  the  advertisement  of 
a  manufacturer  of  a  new  type  of  farm  machinery. 
The  manufacturer  was  entirely  honest  in  his  purpose ; 
he  believed  his  machine  was  meritorious  and  that  he 
could  make  good  all  claims  in  his  advertisements. 
The  publisher  investigated  the  business  carefully,  was 
convinced  that  it  was  sound  and  honest  in  every  way, 
and  accepted  a  one-time  advertisement  for  which  he 


WEIGHING  PRESTIGE  163 

was  paid  less  than  $300.  Three  of  his  readers  bought 
the  advertised  machine  at  $750  each.  Deliveries 
were  not  made  when  promised,  and,  when  the  ma- 
chines did  arrive,  they  did  not  come  up  to  the  claims 
of  the  advertisement.  The  pubhsher,  when  com- 
plaints reached  him,  immediately  sent  his  check  re- 
imbursing each  subscriber  in  full.  Such  high-minded 
concern  for  the  welfare  of  readers  builds  the  strongest 
kind  of  prestige.  One  does  not  wonder  that  adver- 
tisers eagerly  seek  space  in  publications  that  take  this 
advanced  stand  to  protect  their  readers. 

No  particular  class  of  publication  is  alone  in  the 
movement  for  honest  advertising.  As  a  body  the  gen- 
eral magazines  led  the  way.  ^lany  years  ago  they  be- 
gan to  "clean  up"  by  excluding  all  false,  fraudulent 
and  otherwise  objectionable  advertisements.  The  an- 
ticipation was  that  this  action  would  raise  the  tone  of 
magazine  publicity  and  attract  a  new  and  greater 
volume  of  advertising.  The  anticipation  was  realized. 
There  is  no  question  that  the  inauguration  of  this 
significant  policy  is  responsible  in  large  measure  for 
the  rapid  and  extraordinary  development  of  advertis- 
ing which  followed  it.  As  soon  as  the  excellent  re- 
sults of  the  policy  were  perceived,  the  magazines  has- 
tened to  take  the  further  step  of  guaranteeing  maga- 
zine readers  against  financial  loss  incurred  from  pat- 
ronizing magazine  advertisements.  Virtually  all  gen- 
eral magazines  now  do  this.  A  number  of  newspapers 
have  put  themselves  on  the  same  high  plane.  So  have 
most  of  the  agricultural  press.    The  out-door  display 


164  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

interests,  theater  program  publishers,  street  car  ad- 
vertising companies,  and  the  technical  and  business 
publications  are  similarly  "clean,"  the  they  do  not 
guarantee  against  loss. 

As  illustrative  of  the  policy  adopted  by  many  mag- 
azines we  quote  the  following  statement  of  censor- 
ship exercised  by  the  Curtis  Publishing  Company  with 
reference  to  advertisements  which  will  be  accepted 
for  the  Saturday  Evening  Post  and  the  Ladies'  Home 
Journal: 

The  Saturday  Evening  Post  and  the  Ladies*  Home  Journal 
accept  no  advertisements 

1.  Of  medical  or  curative  agents  of  any  kind 

2.  Of  alcoholic  beverages 

3.  Of  subjects  immorally  suggestive 

4.  Of  a  nature  unduly  cheap  or  vulgar,  or  that  is  too  un- 
pleasant either  in  subject  or  treatment 

5.  Of  a  "blind"  character — that  is  to  say,  advertising 
which  in  purpose  and  intent  is  obscure  or  misleading 

6.  Of  "free"  articles  unless  the  article  is  actually  free  (a 
thing  is  not  free  if  the  reader  is  obliged  to  perform  some 
service  or  buy  some  other  article  in  order  to  obtain  it) 

7.  Of  a  financial  nature,  if  highly  speculative 

8.  "Knocking"  competitors 

The  associates  of  one's  advertisements  are  just  as 
important  indications  of  character  as  the  associates 
of  an  individual.  We  repeat:  The  objects  of  an 
advertisement  are  three :  to  be  seen,  to  be  remembered, 
And  to  be  believed,  and  the  greatest  of  these  is  to  be 
believed.  One  should  prepare  his  advertisements  and 
<choose  his  media  with  this  thought  uppermost  in  mind. 


WEIGHING  PRESTIGE  165 


REVIEW 

What  are  the  factors  in  the  prestige  of  an  advertising  medium? 

Have  you  more  confidence  in  the  advertisements  in  some  peri- 
odicals than  in  others?     >Vhy? 

What  class  of  media  and  what  individual  media  would  give 
most  prestige  (regardless  of  circulation)  to  advertisements  of  the 
product  or  service  of  the  business  in  which  you  are  engaged? 

Is  it  good  policy  for  a  publisher  to  guarantee  the  truth  of  ad* 
vertisements ?     If  so,  why  do  not  all  publishers  do  it? 


CHAPTER  XI 

LETTERS  AND  DIRECT  ADVERTISING 

1.  Components  of  direct  advertising. — All  direct 
advertising  thru  the  mail  centers  about  the  letter.  In 
a  broad  sense  any  letter  written  to  a  customer  or  pros- 
pect for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  business  partakes 
of  the  nature  of  advertising.  But  this  term  is  not 
often  applied  to  general  correspondence  where  each 
letter  is  personal ;  it  is  used  to  signify  form  letters  re- 
produced by  mechanical  processes  and  sent  to  lists  of 
persons  together  with  the  accompanying  inclosures. 
It  stands  mid-way  between  the  sales  letter  and  general 
publicity.  One  is  written  for  a  particular  person  and 
sent  to  him  directly,  the  other  is  addressed  to  all  the 
persons  of  a  group  whom  it  reaches  indirectly.  Mail 
advertising  while  general  in  its  appeal  to  all  the  per- 
sons in  a  group  is  sent  to  them  directly  as  individuals. 

2.  Advantages  of  mail  campaigns. — Direct  adver- 
tising thru  the  mail,  as  compared  with  the  more  indi- 
rect methods  of  advertising,  has  several  strong  points 
in  its  favor.  Among  these  may  be  mentioned  the 
advertiser's  ability  (1)  to  limit  the  expense  of  his 
campaign;  (2)  to  guard  trade  information;  (3)  to 
concentrate  his  advertising  upon  a  particular  com- 
munity or  a  particular  class  of  people;  (4)  to  time 
the  reading  of  the  advertisement;  and   (5)   to  make 

166 


LETTERS  AND  DIRECT  ADVERTISING      167 

inclosures  of  samples  or  return  envelops  that  encour- 
age the  prospect  to  order  on  the  spot. 

Mail  advertising  permits  the  expenditure  of  small 
or  large  sums  of  money  as  conditions  may  dictate 
The  sum  spent  for  sending  out  a  series  of  letters  is 
determined  mostly  by  the  length  of  the  manager's 
mailing  list.  In  magazine  advertising,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  cost  comes  in  large  units.  To  an  inade- 
quately financed  business,  this  consideration  is  espe- 
cially important;  tho  even  a  successful  and  amply 
financed  business  must  select  its  advertising  media 
according  to  the  limits  set  by  its  advertising  appro- 
priation. 

The  advertiser  may  choose  mail  advertising  as  the 
best  means  of  controlling  trade  information.  Special 
price  appeals  may  be  made  thru  this  medium  with  less 
danger  of  incurring  the  ire  of  competitors.  Patents, 
new  types  of  machines,  new  patterns  in  fabrics — the 
particulars  of  these  must,  of  course,  be  disclosed  in 
order  to  sell  the  product;  yet  the  advertiser  may  wish 
to  confide  his  plans  only  to  a  limited  number  of  pro- 
spective buyers.  The  advantages  of  an  "under- 
ground" campaign  are  well  appreciated  by  practical 
advertisers. 

An  advertisement  in  a  dental  magazine  might  seem 
sure  to  reach  a  definite  and  homogeneous  class  of 
people.  Xevertheless,  a  mailing  list  of  the  dentists 
graduated  from  the  University  of  Illinois  would  en- 
able the  advertiser  to  reach  a  grou])  within  a  group. 
An  advertisnig  letter  to  such  an  inner  group  may  be 


168  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

composed  so  as  to  ^ake  an  especially  strong  appeal. 
In  the  same  way  a  thoro  test  may  be  made  of  a  par- 
ticular locality  by  directing  mail  matter  to  all  the 
known  prospects,  and  adapting  what  is  sent  to  special 
local  needs. 

Mail  advertising  permits  the  advertiser  to  time  the 
reading  of  the  advertisement  more  exactly.  If  the 
prospect  is  a  dealer,  he  will  probably  open  the  letter  at 
his  desk.  If  the  letter  contains  a  stamped  and  ad- 
dressed inclosure,  the  conditions  are  good  for  getting 
an  immediate  response.  An  advertisement  in  the 
dealer's  trade  magazine,  on  the  other  hand,  may  fall 
under  his  eye  on  the  car  home,  or  at  some  other  time 
when  active  response  is  impossible.  Again  printed 
advertisements  only  receive  a  limited  degree  of  at- 
tention, so  that  a  full  description  of  a  product  in  a 
"printed  advertisement"  would  be  impracticable,  the 
more  so  since  the  description  would  probably  be  in 
fine  print. 

3.  The  uses  of  direct  advertising. — Direct  adver- 
tising may  be  used  to  get  orders  directly  or  it  may  be 
employed  for  other  purposes.  It  may  be  used  to  sup- 
plement the  work  of  traveling  salesmen.  It  is  often 
used  to  precede  the  introduction  of  a  new  specialty  or 
a  new  policy,  which  assures  the  salesman  when  he  calls 
that  the  prospect  is  at  least  partially  informed  in  re- 
gard to  the  organization  and  product  which  he  repre- 
sents. The  form  letter  is  used  also  to  introduce  a  new 
salesman,  and  thus  often  prepares  a  welcome  for  him 
when  he  calls. 


LETTERS  AND  DIRECT  ADVERTISING      169 

It  is  becoming  more  and  more  difficult  for  a  sales- 
man to  work  advantageously  without  active  support 
from  the  house  which  he  represents.  Direct  advertis- 
ing provides  a  means  by  which  the  salesman's  state- 
ments are  authoritatively  supported  over  the  signa- 
ture of  one  of  the  officials  of  his  company. 

A  certain  sales  manager  estimates  that  his  firm  loses 
$8,500  a  year  thru  calls  by  his  salesmen  upon  buyers 
who  are  absent  from  their  offices  at  the  time  of  the 
call.  He  could  save  that  loss  if  he  could  devise  an  ap- 
pointment system  that  would  insure  that  the  buyer 
would  be  on  hand  when  the  salesman  calls.  Direct 
advertising  may  help  in  such  a  case.  Even  tho  it  fails 
to  insure  an  appointment  in  every  instance,  it  may 
indicate  whether  or  not  it  is  worth  while  for  the  sales- 
man to  go  to  great  trouble  to  make  an  appointment 
with  a  particular  prospect. 

The  visit  of  a  salesman  is  a  large  expense,  and  there 
are  many  dealers  to  see  and  few  salesmen  to  see  them. 
By  using  letters  at  frequent  intervals,  to  supplement 
the  calls  of  salesmen,  the  manufacturer  or  jobber  is 
enabled  to  keep  closely  in  touch  with  his  distributors 
and  at  the  same  time  cut  down  expense. 

4.  Compiling  the  mailing  list. — The  success  of  a 
mail  campaign  depends  primarily  upon  the  mailing 
list.  Bad  advertising  matter  sent  to  a  live  list  is  no 
doubt  partly  wasted,  but  good  advertising  sent  to  a 
bad  list  is  yet  more  futile. 

The  first  step  in  compiling  a  mailing  list  is  to  deter- 
mine M'hat  class  of  people  are  most  likely  to  buy  the 


170  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

goods  offered.  Certain  broad  classifications  may  be 
quickly  determined;  for  example,  those  based  on  sex, 
on  occupation,  on  income,  or  on  foreign  extraction. 
Business  and  professional  men  are  said  to  be  liberal 
buyers  of  certain  commodities,  while  bankers  and 
farmers  are  conservative  buyers. 

The  selection  of  the  sources  of  mailing  list  names  is 
seldom  difficult.  The  following  outline  is  suggestive 
of  the  many  mines  of  information  for  the  wide-awake 
advertiser. 

I.     Directories 

a.  Local 

1.  City 

2.  Telephone 

S.  Social  registers,  "blue  books,"  etc 

b.  Sectional  and  national 

1.  Rating  books 

2.  Trade  directories 

II.     Government  records 

a.  Local 

1.  City  and  county  tax  lists 

2.  Building  permits 

3.  License  and  marriage  records 

4.  Registration  lists 

b.  State 

1.  Secretary   of   State's   records    (automobile 

licenses,   for  example) 

2.  Labor  reports 

c.  National 

1.  Income  tax  lists 

2.  Consular  reports 

3.  Departmental    publications     (notably,    re- 

ports of  the  Bureau  of  Foreign  and  Do- 
mestic Commerce) 


LETTERS  AND  DIRECT  ADVERTISING      171 

III.  Organizations 

a.  Business   (Commercial  clubs) 

b.  General. 

1.  Fraternal 

2.  Social 

3.  Labor 

IV.  Press  clippings  (press  clippings  may  be  collected  about 

any  subject  affecting  the  advertiser's  in- 
terests ;  e.g.,  names  of  advertisers,  society 
notes,  fires,  births,  marriages,  deaths, 
transfers  of  real  estate,  etc.) 

V.  Advertising  (study  of  advertisements  in  all  kinds  of 
periodicals  yields  valuable  names  for  a 
mailing  list) 

VI.     Miscellaneous 

a.  Employes  of  business  houses 

b.  Lists  exchanged  with  other  advertisers 

c.  Listing  companies 

d.  Addressing  companies 

e.  Special  investigations,  full  or  part  time 

f.  Reports  of  salesmen 

g.  Customers 
h.  Banks 

i.   Dealers 

j.  Advertising  departments  of  periodicals 
k.  Accounts  in  sales  ledger 

One  of  the  quickest  ways  to  construct  a  live  mailing 
list  of  general  consumers  is  to  offer  something  at  a 
reduced  price  in  a  magazine,  newspaper,  or  other 
periodical  medium.  One  of  the  great  mail-order 
houses  obtained  its  first  mailing  list  from  publishing 
advertisements  offering  thirty  pounds  of  sugar  for  a 


172  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

dollar.  Within  a  few  days  the  company  had  the 
names  of  thousands  of  people  who  had  demonstrated 
their  willingness  to  buy  direct  by  mail  when  excep- 
tional value  is  offered.  Among  other  ingenious 
schemes  of  this  sort  are  prize  offers  and  voting  con- 
tests. 

Valuable  mailing  lists  may  be  purchased  on  very 
short  notice  from  listing  agencies  and  addressing  com- 
panies. The  price  of  these  lists  varies  with  the  dif- 
ficulty of  compiling  them  and  ranges  from  one 
cent  to  as  high  as  fifty  cents  a  name.  Reputable 
listing  agencies  usually  guarantee  their  lists  to  be 
from  95  to  98  per  cent  accurate,  according  to  the 
nature  of  the  hst;  and  they  refund  for  all  "dead 
letters."  In  buying  "names"  it  is  well  to  stipulate 
that  letters  returned  because  of  wrong  or  insufficient 
address  shall  call  for  a  refund. 

5.  Getting  a  correct  list.— In  establishing  a  list  for 
mailing  purposes  it  pays  to  spend  thought  and  care 
to  get  it  correct.  One  defect  in  lists  compiled  from 
directories  is  that  commonly  only  the  first  and  last 
name  are  given  in  full;  while  the  middle  name  is  in- 
dicated by  initials.  The  John  H.  Smith  of  the  di- 
rectory may  sign  his  name  in  any  of  various  ways. 
He  may  prefer  to  be  addressed  as  "J.  H.  Smith,"  or 
"John  Hepburn  Smith,"  or  possibly  "J.  Hepburn 
Smith."  He  may  also  prefer  to  be  addressed  with 
whatever  titular  degree  or  other  designation  he  is  ac- 
customed to. 


LETTERS  AND  DIRECT  ADVERTISING      173 

The  subject  of  "right  names"  was  investigated  by 
a  well-known  publishing  company.  By  comparative 
tests  the  company  found  that  a  list  made  up  of  names 
as  customarily  signed  achieved  results  14%  per  cent 
better  than  a  list  copied  from  a  directory. 

Oftentimes  names  and  addresses  of  the  same  per- 
sons are  obtainable  from  different  sources  and  one 
can  be  used  to  check  the  other. 

The  nature  of  the  business  will  to  a  great  extent 
determine  whether  other  information  besides  name 
and  address  is  desirable.  In  some  retail  businesses 
where  it  is  expected  to  serve  the  same  customer  many 
times  the  facts  collected  by  the  advertiser  concerning 
birthday  dates,  political  and  religious  affiliations,  size 
of  family  and  similar  matters  are  numerous. 

6.  Keeping  lists  up-to-date. — When  it  is  expected 
to  use  the  lists  over  and  over  again,  they  require  con- 
tinual care.  A  list,  once  compiled,  never  stays  put. 
A  good  mailing  list  is  the  product  of  a  constant  evolu- 
tion. People  move  away,  or  die,  or  change  their  oc- 
cupations and  the  mailing  list  must  be  revised  or 
scrapped.  The  rate  of  depreciation  to  which  a  par- 
ticular list  is  subject  is  determined  naturally  by  the 
nature  of  the  list.  A  list  of  farmers  who  own  their 
own  farms  may  not  vary  one  per  cent  a  year.  At  the 
other  extreme,  a  list  of  salesmen  of  cheap  specialties 
may  have  to  be  revised  every  month. 

One  man's  "mailing-list  creed"  reads  as  follows: 
"Every  possible  customer  who  is  not  on  my  list  repre- 
sents a  leak  in  mv  future  profits:  e^erv  man  on  mv 

XIII— 13 


174.  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

list  who  is  not  a  possible  customer  represents  a  leak 
In  present  expenses."  Constant  revising  and  refining 
is  expensive,  but  habitual  neglect  is  more  expensive. 

A  local  merchant  has,  in  the  new  editions  of  local 
directories,  a  fairly  dependable  source  from  which  to 
revise  his  list.  A  national  advertiser,  however,  having 
on  his  lists  names  scattered  over  small  towns  and 
rural  districts,  may  not  always  find  directories  avail- 
able. In  such  a  case,  perhaps  the  best  method  of 
checking  is  to  send  a  copy  of  the  list  for  each  town  to 
the  postmaster  with  the  request  that  he  cross  off  the 
names  of  all  who  have  left  the  town.  If  the  post- 
master is  tactfully  approached  he  may  usually  be  in- 
duced to  perform  this  service,  but  the  law  forbids  his 
adding  new  names  to  the  list. 

7.  Filing  the  mailing  cards. — The  necessity  of  fil- 
ing cards  for  mailing  lists  is  patent  when  we  consider 
the  frequency  of  corrections,  of  removals,  of  additions, 
and  of  new  classifications,  especially  those  new  classi- 
fications necessary  when  a  prospect  has  been  appealed 
to  or  when  he  has  responded  to  the  mail  campaign.  A 
certain  national  concern  divides  its  cards  into  fifteen 
distinct  classes.  Its  first  three  classifications — manu- 
facturers, wholesalers  and  retailers — are  filed  together 
alphabetically,  the  three  classes  being  distinguished 
by  metallic  index  tabs.  Using  cards  of  different 
colors  is  another  method  of  subdividing  a  file  and  may 
be  used  in  coordination  with  the  index  tabs.  The 
practice  of  using  a  single  subdivided  file  is  especially 
commendable  where  all  cards  are  periodically  checked 


LETTERS  AND  DIRECT  ADVERTISING      175 

from  directories,  rating  books,  or  other  alphabetical 
sources;  but  it  is  always  commendable  in  that  it  saves 
time  in  searching  for  a  card.  The  use  of  several  files 
usually  necessitates  a  great  deal  of  extra  work  in 
duplicating  cards  for  cross  filing.' 

8.  Sales  by  mail. — The  components  of  any  mail- 
selling  campaign  are  usually  a  series  of  letters,  often 
with  appropriate  inclosures.  A  single  letter  does  not 
make  a  campaign.  There  must  be  a  suitable  follow 
up  or  the  initial  effort  is  largely  wasted. 

\Vhether  the  letters  should  be  composed  for  climac- 
tic effect,  or  whether  the  strongest  appeal  should  be 
made  in  the  first  letter,  is  an  important  problem  in 
planning  the  series.  A  cardinal  principle  in  direct- 
mail  advertising,  however,  is  that  each  mailing  should 
be  sufficient  in  itself  to  convince  the  prospect  and  in- 
duce him  to  act  without  awaiting  subsequent  mailings. 
Even  where  the  climactic  plan  is  not  followed,  the 
time  element  in  the  follow-ups  deserves  attention. 
The  old  rule  that  follow-ups  should  be  sent  ten  days 
apart  is  greater  in  simplicity  than  in  sales  value.  In 
timing  follow-ups,  importance  again  attaches  to  the 
class  of  prospects  appealed  to.  A  business  man  an- 
swers letters  the  day  they  arrive :  the  farmer  or  laborer 
ordinarily  is  not  so  prompt. 

9.  Raking  the  list. — Where  an  expensive  booklet  is 
used  to  describe  the  goods,  it  is  not  advisable  to  send 
out  the  booklet  promiscuously  to  a  large  list.    Instead, 

1  For  further  information  on  filing  systems,  see  the  Modern  Business 
Text  on  "Office  Management." 


176  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

a  strong  appeal  should  be  sent  out  inviting  all  inter- 
ested in  securing  the  booklet  to  mail  an  inclosed  card. 
Some  companies  having  only  inexpensive  booklets 
have  found  by  investigation  that  tho  more  replies 
come  when  stamped  envelops  are  inclosed,  the  increase 
of  returns  may  not  warrant  the  additional  expense. 

Again,  to  arouse  interest  in  a  proposition  a  series 
of  "mailing  pieces"  may  be  sent  to  a  list  of  names. 
The  mailing  pieces  consist  of  cards  or  circulars  de- 
signed in  striking  and  elaborate  style,  each  presenting 
one  definite  point  about  the  product  or  its  use.  In 
each  of  them  a  drive  is  made  for  a  reply  from  the 
prospect.  When  the  reply  comes,  the  mailing  of  the 
pieces  is  of  course  discontinued.  At  this  point  the 
expensive  catalog  is  sent,  or  the  salesman  makes  a  call. 

10.  The  trial  campaign. — The  list  compiled,  the 
letters  prepared,  and  all  details  of  posting  decided,  it 
may  prove  profitable  to  test  the  campaign  on  a  repre- 
sentative group  of  prospects  before  driving  forward 
on  a  large  scale.  An  advertiser  having  a  list  of,  say, 
20,000  names  may  take  the  first  500  in  alphabetical 
order,  and  mail  his  letters  to  them,  keeping  careful 
records  of  the  returns.  He  may  be  reasonably  certain 
that  his  percentage  of  replies  will  be  about  the  same 
from  the  whole  20,000  as  they  were  from  the  first  500. 

The  following  figures  are  from  an  actual  test  of  a 
direct-by-mail  campaign  to  secure  subscriptions  to  a 
publication.  The  prospects  were  all  bankers.  No 
follow-ups  were  used.  The  advertiser  established  as 
his  minimum  twenty  orders  a  thousand ;  and  if  a  letter 


LETTERS  AND  DIRECT  ADVERTISING      177 

did  not  "pull"  to  that  extent,  he  saved  himself  the 
expense  of  sending  it  to  the  entire  list.  The  percent- 
age returns  from  the  tests  and  from  the  actual  mail- 
ings were  found  to  be  nearly  the  same.^ 


BANKERS'  TESTS 
Minimum  Standard  20  per  1,000 


Tests 

No.  of 

Total 

No. 

Material 

pieces 

orders 

per 

mailed 

mailed 

received 

IfiOO 

A2 

500 

5 

10 

Bl 

500 

6 

12 

CI 

500 

4 

8 

E 

500 

7 

14 

Fl 

500 

24 
12 

36( 

F9 

500 

s 

G 

1000 

30 

30 

H 

500 

11 

22 

I 

500 

12) 

24 

500 

12 

Mailings 
No.  of            Total 

No. 

pieces            orders 
mailed         received 

per 

1,000 

16,511 

21,790 

)    6,554 

^16,039 

6,810 

12,154 


589 


35 

29.5 

24 

25 


Note:  Where  the  same  letter  appears  with  different  ex- 
ponents under  "material  mailed"  it  indicates  that  on  the  test 
mailing,  results  were  kept  separately  for  the  same  material 
mailed  to  two  small  groups. 

11.  Tests  of  follow-up  series. — A  trial  campaign 
to  establish  the  proper  number  of  letters  in  a  series  of 
follow-ups  may  require  so  much  time  as  to  be  impos- 
sible. The  advertiser  may  be  compelled  to  decide 
from  judgment  rather  than  from  experiment.  He 
knows  that  in  the  first  part  of  the  series  the  succession 

1  "Some  problems  in  market  distribution,"  by  A.  W.  Shaw,  Quarterly 
Journal  of  Economics,  Aug.,  1912,  p.  759. 


178  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

of  appeals  will  operate  to  his  favor  but  that  a  "dimin- 
ishing return"  will  operate  against  him  somewhere  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  series.  Just  where  in  the  series 
will  one  additional  letter  be  unprofitable?  The  re- 
mainder of  this  chapter  is  devoted  to  precisely  this 
question. 

Following  is  a  record  of  seventeen  follow-up  letters 
which  were  sent  at  weekly  intervals  to  2,300  dealers 
in  twelve  eastern  states  to  induce  them  to  carry  the 
Moneybak  Taffeta  Selvage  Silks,  made  by  the  New 
York  Silk  Manufacturing  Company.  The  entire 
campaign  cost  $1,554. 


^Requests  for 

Orders  from 

Letter  No. 

samples 

new  accounts 

1 

1 

0 

2 

5 

5 

3 

4 

6 

4    ' 

S 

7 

5 

8 

1§ 

6 

3 

7 

7 

6 

6 

8 

6 

14 

9 

2 

5 

10 

6 

7 

11 

16 

7 

1« 

7 

9 

13 

7 

8 

14 

4 

12 

15 

3 

3 

16 

8 

6 

17 

10 

33 

Eleven  of  these  letters,  one  to  eleven  inclusive,  were 
used  on  another  list  of  4,800  dealers  in  the  remaining 


LETTERS  AND  DIRECT  ADVERTISING       179 

states  of  the  country,  with  the  results  shown  in  the 
following  table : 


Requests  for 

Orders  from 

Letter  No. 

samples 

new  accoimts 

1 

13 

8 

ft 

0 

19 

S 

5 

9 

4 

d 

12 

5 

8 

12 

6 

S 

12 

7 

9 

7 

8 

8 

22 

9 

2 

20 

10 

3 

6 

11 

0 

4 

12.  Taking  the  average  of  a  series. — Another  inter- 
esting record  shows  the  returns  from  a  series  of  six 
letters  sent  out  by  an  advertising  specialist  who 
planned  to  make  a  six  months'  campaign  pay  on  the 
basis  of  the  net  profit  from  new  accounts. 


Let- 

Per cent 

Per  cent 

Net 

profit 

Cost  of 

ter 

of 

of  new 

onnerc 

cam- 

No. 

replies 

accounts 

accounts 

paign 

1 

2/3  of  1% 

0 

0 

$85 

2 

2% 

1/6  of  1% 

$43 

85 

3 

1/6  of  1% 

0 

0 

85 

4 

1  1/3% 

2/3  of  1% 

2,570 

85 

5 

3% 

2/3  of  1% 

427 

85 

6 

7% 

3% 

2,000 

85 

Lvera^ 

je  2  1/3% 

2/3% 

Total 

$5,040 

$510 

If  this  advertiser  had  stopped  at  the  end  of  the  third 
letter,  as  some  might  think  he  would  have  been  justi- 
fied in  doing,  he  would  have  nothing  but  a  new  loss  of 


180  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

$212  to  show  for  his  efforts.     By  continuing  thruout 
the  series,  he  was  able  to  obtain  new  accounts  on  which     i 
he  received  a  net  profit  of  about  ten  times  the  cost  of 
the  campaign.  ' 

REVIEW  : 

j 

If  it  costs  less  to  send  a  letter  to  a  prospect  than  to  send  a 
salesman,  why  send  a  salesman  at  all? 

What  sources  of  names  for  a  mailing  list  could  be  used  in  your 

business  ?  ; 

Could  letters  be  used  to  facilitate  the  work  of  salesmen  in  your  i 

business?     If  not,  why  not?  \ 

Why  must  mailing  lists  be  revised?  \ 

Devise  a  system  for  handling  the  mailing  cards  after  the  mail  i 

campaign  begins.  , 

How  many  the  effectiveness  of  sales  letters  be  tested?     Why?  j 


CHAPTER  XII 

SAMPLING 

1 .  Extent  of  sampHng. — Sampling  has  been  largely 
responsible  for  the  success  of  many  standard  prod- 
ucts. It  is  one  of  the  oldest  kinds  of  advertising  and, 
when  properly  used,  one  of  the  best.  Little  has  been 
written  about  it,  however,  and  few  records  of  sam- 
pling results  have  been  published.  Probably  there 
is  no  other  branch  of  advertising  on  which  there  is 
so  little  available  data  as  on  the  subject  of  sampling. 
The  average  advertiser  knows  that  there  are  many 
forms  of  sampling,  and  he  realizes  that  many  differ- 
ent things  have  been  put  on  the  market  with  the  aid 
of  sampling.  He  seldom  knows  all  the  ways  in  which 
sampling  may  be  used,  however,  nor  has  he  a  clear 
conception  of  the  widely  varying  commodities  that 
are  susceptible  to  this  particular  form  of  direct  ad- 
vertising. 

In  this  chapter  our  purpose  is  to  list  the  chief  ways 
in  which  products  are  sampled,  and  to  indicate  the 
possibilities  of  sampling  by  naming  actual  articles 
that  have  been  introduced  by  the  various  methods 
named.  First,  we  are  to  consider  typical  methods  of 
sampling  direct  by  the  manufacturer,  and  then  vari- 

181 


182  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

ous  methods  of  using  the  dealer  to  get  samples  to  con- 
sumers. 

2.  General  classes  of  sampling. — Sampling  is  of 
several  kinds;  the  more  important,  which  explain 
themselves,  follow: 

(1)  Putting  on  trial — the  plan  adopted  in  selling 
talking  machines,  adding  machines  and  type- 
writers. 

(2)  Demonstrating  in  stores  or  at  fairs — where  the 
consumer  is  allowed  to  taste  the  food  product  or 
to  try  the  use  of  the  product  for  himself. 

(8) ,  The  most  common  form  of  sampHng — the  dis- 
tributing of  packages  of  the  product  for  the  ulti- 
mate consumer  to  use,  cook  or  otherwise  demon- 
strate to  his  or  her  own  satisfaction. 

3.  Sampling  thru  distribution  by  other  manufaC' 
turers. — Many  original  methods  of  sampling  have 
been  discovered  by  clever  merchandising  men.  One 
of  the  most  successful  is  that  of  distributing  samples 
thru  other  manufacturers.  For  several  years,  if  you 
purchased  any  make  of  a  revolver,  you  found  in  the 
case  a  neat  and  attractive  sample  of  Three-In-One 
Oil.  These  samples  were  furnished  to  the  revolver 
manufacturers  without  charge,  and  the  revolver 
manufacturers  were  glad  to  distribute  the  samples 
in  this  way,  believing  that  in  so  doing  they  were  ren- 
dering a  service  to  their  customers. 

4.  House-to-house  sampling. — The  oldest  method 
of  sampling  is  to  distribute  packages  from  house  to 
house.     All  sorts  of  things  have  been  sampled  in  this 


SAMPLING  183 

way.  An  ice  company  in  Kentucky  once  filled  every 
ice-box  in  the  town  with  a  large-size  sample  of  its 
goods.  More  often,  however,  house-to-house  sam- 
pling is  used  for  food  products,  washing  prepara- 
tions and  other  things  that  cost  little  and  are  used 
by  everyone.  Some  food  manufacturers  re-sample  a 
territory  every  two  or  three  years.  This  costs  much 
money,  but  in  many  cases  it  has  proved  profitable. 

The  success  of  house-to-house  sampling  depends 
largely  on  the  care  used  by  the  sampling  crew.  Each 
package  must  get  inside  the  door,  because  packages 
left  outside  are  often  collected  by  boys  who  follow 
the  crew.  It  is  argued,  probably  with  justice,  that 
the  housewife  who  might  not  take  the  trouble  to  go 
to  a  store  to  exchange  a  coupon  for  a  sample  will  use 
a  sample  if  it  is  left  at  her  home.  House-to-house 
sampling  is  undoubtedly  the  most  expensive  kind  of 
sampling;  yet  it  seems  to  be  the  most  successful  in 
cities  of  medium  size. 

5.  Sampling  in  public  places. — One  of  the  sam- 
pling methods  used  in  distributing  Wrigley's  gums 
was  sampling  in  theaters.  A  perfume  manufacturer 
once  arranged  with  a  theater  manager  to  attach  a 
small  sample  vial  of  a  new  brand  of  perfume  to  every 
theater  program  distributed.  The  theater  is  a  place 
where  people  can  be  reached  in  groups. 

In  cities  with  a  population  of  a  million  or  over,  it 
is  often  found  advisable  to  substitute  sampling  in 
public  places  for  the  house-to-house  method.  In  New 
York  City  food  manufacturers  often  place  sampling 


184  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

distributors  at  the  elevated  and  subway  stations  at 
the  time  of  the  evening  rush. 

6.  Sampling  where  representative  groups  are  con- 
gregated. — G.  Washington  Coffee  was  first  intro- 
duced in  Atlantic  City,  and  was  sampled  there  for 
several  months  during  the  summer  convention  sea- 
son. The  manufacturers  found,  as  they  expected, 
that  from  this  sampling  a  demand  for  the  coffee  was 
soon  created  in  many  parts  of  the  country.  The  Dur- 
ham Duplex  Razor  was  also  sampled  at  Atlantic 
City,  when  a  large  national  convention  was  held  there. 
Everyone  who  attended  the  convention  was  given 
a  full-size  razor  with  a  handle  made  of  papier  mache 
and  carrying  one  blade  only.  As  most  safety  razor 
manufacturers  make  their  profit  on  the  sale  of  the 
blades,  in  order  to  use  the  razor  more  than  a  few 
times  the  recipient  was  compelled  to  buy  blades  from 
his  local  distributor.  Colgate  &  Company  does  ex- 
tensive sampling  of  its  different  products  at  the  large 
and  more  representative  conventions. 

The  cigarette  and  tobacco  companies  have  practiced 
pubhc  sampling  on  a  scale  far  more  extensive  than  any 
other  class  of  advertisers. 

7.  Demonstrating  in  consumers^  homes. — Various 
brands  of  flour  have  been  pushed  in  new  territories 
by  house-to-house  canvassers  who  call  on  the  house- 
wives, explain  the  merits  of  the  flour  and  give  a 
cook-book  or  an  order  for  flour,  to  be  filled  by  the 
purchaser's  own  grocer.  Products  demonstrated  in 
this  way  are  usually  sold  at  the  full  retail  price  by 


SAMPLING  183 

the  canvassers.  Twenty  Mule  Team  Borax  and 
many  kinds  of  baking  powder  have  been  introduced 
in  this  manner.  It  may  be  argued  that  this  is  merely 
direct-to-consumer  selling,  and  not  sampling  at  all. 
It  is  purely  a  form  of  advertising,  because  the  method 
of  sale  is  too  expensive  to  be  continued  after  the  in- 
troductory period,  and  it  has  more  in  common  with 
sampling  than  with  any  other  kind  of  advertising. 

8.  Lectures  and  sampling. — Some  manufacturers 
employ  lecturers  and  demonstrators  to  appear  before 
women's  clubs,  schools  of  home  economics  and  other 
groups  of  women,  to  explain  their  products,  and  in- 
cidentally, to  distribute  samples  to  the  people  pres- 
ent. Aluminum  kitchen  utensils  have  often  been 
sampled  in  this  way.  Generally,  however,  the  names 
of  the  people  present  at  the  lecture  are  taken  in  ofder 
that  each  person  may  be  followed  up  by  mail. 

9.  Sampling  in  restaurants. — Some  food  manufac- 
turers furnish  free  to  all  the  leading  restaurants  in  a 
city  a  sufficient  amount  of  their  products  for  one  or 
two  days'  supply,  and  then  advertise  in  the  newspa- 
j)ers  and  in  other  ways  the  particular  days  at  which 
these  foods  may  be  found  on  the  menus  of  the  res- 
taurants. This  was  the  plan  used  in  introducing 
Creain  of  Rice  in  Chicago.  Uneeda  Biscuit  was 
sampled  at  the  Inside  Inn  at  the  St.  Louis  World's 
Fair  in  a  similar  manner. 

10.  Sampling  influential  groups. — Some  manufac- 
turers find  they  can  make  no  progress  without  the  as- 
sistance of  certain  influential  groups,  such  as  doctors 


186  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

and  dentists.  These  manufacturers  provide  for  sys- 
tematic sampling  to  those  they  wish  to  influence. 
Tooth  powders  and  pastes,  for  example,  are  largely 
sampled  in  this  way.  National  distribution  has  often 
been  obtained  practically  by  means  of  this  kind  of 
advertising  alone.  The  entire  effort  is  centered  on 
getting  the  good-will  of  dentists,  for  instance,  who 
frequently  distribute  to  their  patients  the  free  sam- 
ples sent  to  them  for  this  purpose,  and  who,  it  is  hoped 
will  recommend  the  use  of  the  sampled  preparations. 

11.  Sampling  direct  by  mail. — Many  manufac- 
turers obtain  lists  of  the  most  influential  people  in 
each  community  and  send  them  samples  of  their  prod- 
ucts, accompanied  by  letters  explaining  the  use  of  the 
goods.  That  is  usually  done  after  obtaining  lists 
from  dealers;  some  manufacturers,  however,  find  it 
advisable  to  make  up  their  own  lists.  Pluto  Water 
has  been  introduced  in  this  way  in  many  territories. 
The  Loose- Wiles  Biscuit  Company  has  also  used  this 
plan  in  introducing  many  of  its  products. 

A  variation  of  this  scheme  is  to  send  samples  only 
when  they  are  asked  for.  The  Horlick's  Malted  Milk 
Company  sends  letters  to  special  lists  of  prospects, 
with  each  letter  inclosing  a  post-card  for  the  pros- 
pect to  use  in  asking  for  a  sample  if  he  is  interested 
enough  to  give  it  a  trial.  This  method  of  sampling 
eliminates  waste,  and  is  therefore  preferred  by  many 
advertisers. 

Consumers  are  sometimes  used  in  compiling  lists  of 
people  to  whom  samples  are  to  be  sent.     For  many 


SAMPLING  187 

years  each  package  of  Kolynos  tooth  paste  has  car- 
ried an  addressed  post-card  for  the  purchaser  to  use 
in  sending  to  the  manufacturer  the  names  of  friends 
who  might  be  interested  in  the  product.  Sometimes 
a  manufacturer  makes  a  small  gift  to  customers  who 
cooperate  with  him  in  this  way. 

12.  Sampling  at  factory  "house  warmings" — 
When  a  manufacturer  builds  a  new  factory  or  estab- 
lishes a  new  branch  office  or  warehouse,  if  his  prod- 
uct is  of  the  sort  than  can  be  sampled,  he  often  in- 
vites the  public  to  a  "house  warming,"  and  distributes 
samples  to  all  who  attend. 

13.  Sampling  hy  using  premiums. — Premiums  are 
given  for  the  return  of  wrappers  and  coupons  from 
many  kinds  of  goods.  When  a  product  carries  pre- 
miums, it  is  common  practice  for  a  canvasser  to  go 
from  house  to  house,  explaining  the  goods,  showing 
the  premium — a  set  of  silverware,  perhaps — and  tell- 
ing the  housewife  that  the  premium  will  be  given  free 
if  she  collects  a  certain  number  of  wrappers  or  cou- 
pons from  the  manufacturer's  products.  To  enable 
her  to  start  collecting,  the  canvasser  may  give  her  a 
free  sample  wrapper  or  a  complete  sample  of  the 
goods,  or  he  may  give  her  a  sample  on  condition  that 
she  purchases  more  of  the  goods  from  him  or  from 
her  dealer.  One  soap  manufacturer  reports  that  this 
is  the  most  successful  sampling  scheme  he  has  ever 
used. 

14.  Sampling  thru  dealers. — The  sampling  meth- 
ods thus  far  described  are  available  to  all  manu- 


188  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

facturers,  whether  they  market  their  goods  thru 
dealers  or  not.  The  manufacturer  who  sells  thru 
dealers,  however,  has  access  to  many  other  kinds  of 
sampling.  Dealers  who  know  that  a  manufacturer 
will  treat  them  fairly,  who  believe  in  his  product,  and 
who  are  satisfied  with  the  profit  they  derive  from  its 
sale,  are  often  willing  to  help  the  manufacturer  dis- 
tribute samples  of  the  product  among  their  custo- 
mers for  the  purpose  of  increasing  its  sales.  There 
are  several  common  ways  of  sampling  with  the  co- 
operation of  dealers. 

15.  Sampling  with  coupons. — Coupons  are  used  in 
many  ways  in  the  distribution  of  samples.  One  fre- 
quently used  plan  is  to  distribute  coupons  from  house 
to  house  or  by  mail,  the  coupons  to  be  exchangeable 
for  full-size  samples  at  any  store  or  at  certain  stores 
listed  on  the  coupon.  This  is,  in  effect,  house-to- 
house  sampling,  but  with  most  of  the  waste  eliminated. 
Of  course,  the  manufacturer  who  uses  this  method 
runs  the  risk  of  failing  to  reach  many  desirable  possi- 
ble customers  who  will  not  go  to  the  trouble  of  turn- 
ing in  a  coupon  to  their  grocer  in  exchange  for  a  free 
sample,  altho  they  might  use  samples  if  the  samples 
were  left  at  their  doors. 

Another  method  of  usiYig  coupons  is  to  publish  them 
in  newspapers,  instead  of  distributing  them  from 
house  to  house.  A  coupon,  clipped  from  the  paper 
and  handed  to  a  dealer,  entitles  a  person  to  a  sample 
of  the  goods.     Sometimes  there  are  no  strings  what- 


SAMPLING  189 

ever  to  the  offer;  at  -other  times  the  advertisement 
specifies  that  oiiJy  one  sample  will  be  given  to  an  in- 
dividual or  to  a  family.  In  still  other  cases  a  sam- 
ple is  given  for  a  coupon  only  if  a  purchase  of  the 
manufacturer's  goods  is  made  at  the  same  time;  in 
other  words,  a  coupon  and  five  cents  will  purchase 
two  five-cent  cakes  of  soap. 

Coupons  for  a  new  product  are  sometimes  packed 
with  older  products  of  a  manufacturer.  The  pur- 
chaser of  the  older  product  finds  a  coupon  in  it  calling 
for  a  sample  of  a  new  line.  He  either  sends  the  cou- 
pon direct  to  the  manufacturer  or,  more  often,  ex- 
changes it  for  a  sample  at  a  dealer's. 

16.  Samples  free  with  purchases. — Instead  of  re- 
quiring the  possible  customer  to  present  a  coupon, 
some  manufacturers  authorize  dealers  to  give  a  sam- 
ple of  a  new  product  to  every  purchaser  of  the  manu- 
facturer's older  goods.  For  instance,  when  Violeta 
Soap  was  introduced  in  certain  territories  grocers  were 
authorized  to  give  away  three  cakes  of  the  new  soap 
with  every  twenty-five-cent  purchase  of  any  of  Ar- 
mour's other  products.  Sometimes  the  offer  is  a  sam- 
ple free  with  any  purchase,  regardless  of  the  kind  or 
value  of  the  goods  bought.  When  Air-IJne  Honey 
was  introduced  in  Chicago,  the  distributers  pro- 
claimed an  "Air  Line  Day,"  when  a  free  sample  of 
the  honey  was  given  to  every  purchaser  in  every  gro- 
cery store  that  handled  the  goods.  Some  dealers 
now  advertise  "Sampling  Days,"  at  which  times  they 

XIII— 14 


190  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

give  away  samples  of  various  kinds.  Many  adver- 
tisers, however,  feel  that  such  wholesale  distribution 
is  not  profitable. 

17.  Sampling  in  delivery  packages. — Full-size 
packages  of  Shredded  Wheat  have  at  various  times 
been  distributed  to  dealers,  who  were  asked  to  include 
one  of  the  samples  in  every  assortment  of  goods  deliv- 
ered during  a  certain  period.  Some  manufacturers 
find  that  grocers  will  not  take  the  time  to  distribute 
their  samples  in  this  way;  in  such  cases  the  manufac- 
turer often  stations  his  own  men  in  the  large  stores 
to  put  samples  in  the  delivery  packages  for  the 
grocer. 

18.  Sending  samples  with  other  goods. — Many 
manufacturers,  instead  of  trying  to  sample  systemat- 
ically among  a  dealer's  customers,  simply  send  the 
dealer  a  few  samples  in  the  hope  that  he  will  distrib- 
ute them  where  they  will  do  the  most  good.  When 
Wrigley's  Doublemint  gum  was  introduced,  samples 
of  it  were  sent  with  filled  orders  for  the  older  Spear- 
mint brand.  Several  sample  bottles  of  Dioxogen 
were  formerly  shipped  with  each  dealer's  first  order 
of  the  regular  size  packages.  This  is  a  good  plan 
when  the  manufacturer  can  be  reasonably  sure  that 
the  dealer  will  really  give  the  samples  to  purchasers. 

19.  Sampling  at  demonstrations. — A  favorite 
method  of  sampling  is  in  connection  with  demonstra- 
tions. Manufacturers  of  food  products  and  toilet 
preparations  often  obtain  permission  to  establish  dem- 
onstration booths  in  the  stores  of  dealers  who  handle 


SAMPLING  191 

the  goods  to  be  demonstrated.  Here  visitors  not  only 
actually  try  the  goods,  but  they  are  also  given  sam- 
ples to  take  home  with  them.  Crystal  Domino  Sugar 
was  introduced  in  this  way. 

Occasionally  manufacturers  have  thought  it  best 
to  establish  demonstration  and  sampling  booths  in 
stores  that  do  not  handle  the  goods  displayed  at  the 
booths.  Food  products,  for  instance,  are  sometimes 
introduced  thru  demonstration  booths  in  department 
stores  that  do  not  have  grocery  departments.  This 
plan  is  followed  because  of  the  large  number  of  peo- 
ple that  visit  department  stores,  and  in  the  belief  that 
this  method  of  distributing  will  result  in  the  good- 
will of  small  grocers,  who  might  possibly  be  antag- 
onized by  the  active  work  of  a  manufacturer  in  the 
grocery  department  of  one  of  their  large  competitors. 

20.  Compensation  to  cooperating  dealers. — A  plan 
for  distributing  samples  thru  dealers  is  always  met 
At  the  outset  by  the  knowledge  that  many  dealers  may 
not  be  willing  to  cooperate.  Ordinarily  when  a  dealer 
is  asked  merely  to  distribute  small-size  samples  to  his 
customers,  he  does  not  seriously  object,  altho  even  in 
this  case  some  dealers  refuse.  They  may  say  that 
they  have  no  time  to  distribute  samples  for  a  manu- 
facturer or  they  may  believe  that  the  distribution  of 
a  considerable  number  of  small-size  samples  will  hurt 
the  sale  of  full-size  packages  of  the  goods.  This  lat- 
ter objection  would  not  be  valid  if  the  samples  were 
distributed  only  to  non-users  of  the  sampled  prod- 
uct; but  unless  care  is  taken  to  see  that  only  this 


192  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

class  of  people  receive  the  samples,  possibly  the  deal- 
er's sales  do  suffer. 

The  chief  objection  of  dealers  to  the  distribution 
of  samples  arises  when  full-size  packages  of  the  prod- 
uct are  given  away.  The  various  coupon  methods  of 
sampling,  for  example,  usually  provide  for  free  dis- 
tribution of  regular  sizes  of  the  goods.  The  dealer 
says  that  every  regular-size  package  given  away 
means  just  one  less  package  sold.  Obviously  this  po- 
sition is  not  always  logical.  If  a  non-user  gets  the 
sample,  he  may  become  a  regular  user.  But,  except 
in  the  case  of  new  articles,  no  effective  way  has  been 
devised  to  insure  free  samples  going  only  to  non- 
users.  Many  manufacturers  get  around  this  diffi- 
culty by  paying  the  dealer  the  full  retail  price  for  all 
samples  distributed  at  his  store.  For  example,  if  a 
coupon  is  left  with  a  housewife,  and  she  takes  it  to 
her  grocer,  receiving  in  exchange  a  cake  of  soap  that 
ordinarily  sells  for  five  cents,  the  manufacturer  re- 
deems the  coupon  for  five  cents,  thus  not  only  paying 
the  grocer  what  the  soap  cost  him,  but  also  giving 
him  the  same  profit  on  the  transaction  that  he  would 
have  if  he  sold  the  soap  instead  of  giving  it  away. 
In  demonstrations  carried  on  in  stores  it  is  customary 
for  the  manufacturer  who  is  sampling  his  goods,  if 
he  uses  full-size  packages,  to  buy  out  of  the  dealer's 
stock  at  regular  retail  prices  the  goods  that  he  needs 
for  sampling. 

There  are  many  variations  in  the  plan  of  paying 
dealers  to  cooperate  in  the  distribution  of  samples. 


SAMPLING  193 

The  methods  that  have  been  described,  however,  are 
suggestive  of  the  principles.  It  may  be  stated  as  a 
general  rule  that  some  plan  of  compensating  dealers 
is  almost  necessary  if  their  cooperation  is  expected  in 
the  giving  away  of  samples  to  consumers. 

REVIEW 

Judging  from  the  classification  of  sampling  made  in  the  early 
part  of  the  chapter,  what  kinds  of  commodities  do  yon  consider 
lend  themselves  most  readily  to  sampling? 

Which  do  not  ? 

For  example,  would  you  sample  clothing,  china  ware,  silver 
ware,  fruit? 

Could  sampling  be  used  in  your  business?  If  so,  in  what 
form? 

Does  sampling  thru  dealers  have  any  advantages  over  sampling 
direct  to  consumers  ?  What  obstacles  have  to  be  met  in  sampling 
thru  dealers? 

What  are  the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of  sampling  by 
means  of  coupons^ 


CHAPTER  XIII 

HOW  PERIODICALS  ARE  USED 

1.  Place  of  periodicals  in  the  campaign. — In  pre- 
vious chapters  we  have  listed  the  various  kinds  of  pe- 
riodical media  and  have  briefly  shown  how  they 
are  related  to  the  other  media  that  are  available  for 
the  carrying  of  the  advertiser's  message.  In  this 
chapter  we  are  to  consider  more  in  detail  the  way 
in  which  periodicals  are  used.  The  periodical  is  the 
great  advertising  medium.  To  many  people  the  word 
advertising  suggests  only  advertising  in  newspapers, 
magazines  and  other  publications.  This  is  too  nar- 
row a  conception  of  advertising.  Direct  media  and 
signs  are  just  as  legitimate  and  just  as  important  aids 
in  a  campaign  as  are  the  various  kinds  of  periodicals. 
For  some  commodities,  direct  media  or  signs  may 
be  the  only  possible  methods  of  reaching  the  buying 
public.  For  others,  periodical  advertising  alone  may 
be  unable  to  accomplish  the  desired  result. 

2.  Kinds  of  newspaper  advertising. — First  in  vol- 
ume of  advertising  carried  by  periodicals  are  the 
newspapers.  The  newspaper  is  used  by  more  adver- 
tisers, reaches  more  people,  and  reaches  them  more 
often  than  any  other  advertising  medium.  Newspa- 
per advertising  is  generally  divided  into  three  classes : 

194 


HOW  PERIODICALS  ARE  USED  195 

1.  Local  retail  advertising 

2.  Classified  advertising 

3.  Foreign  advertising 

( 1 )  Local  retail  advertising.  Most  newspaper  ad- 
vertising belongs  in  the  first  two  classes.  There  are 
something  over  three-quarters  of  a  million  retail  stores 
in  the  United  States.  Many  of  them  do  little  or  no 
advertising.  The  larger  ones  and  the  successful  ones, 
however,  are  usually  persistent  advertisers,  and  it  is 
their  publicity  that  makes  the  average  newspaper  pos- 
sible. The  advantages  of  newspaper  advertising  for 
retail  stores  no  longer  need  to  be  argued.  The  right 
kind  of  newspaper  advertising  pays;  thousands  and 
thousands  of  stores  the  country  over  have  proved  it. 
If  a  store  is  a  good  store,  if  it  sells  good  goods  and 
gives  good  service,  only  one  thing  more  is  essential 
to  success — that  the  public  shall  know  about  the  store 
and  what  it  has  to  offer.  Ordinarily  the  best  and 
cheapest  way  to  tell  the  public  is  thru  the  newspaper. 

(2)  Classified  advertising.  Small  advertisements, 
usually  set  in  small  type,  of  the  sort  ordinarily  known 
as  "Want  Ads,"  are  known  as  classified  advertising. 
These  advertisements  are  usually  local  in  character — 
positions  wanted,  positions  to  be  filled,  local  business 
opportunities,  articles  lost  and  found,  etc.  Some  na- 
tional advertisers,  however,  have  used  classified  ad- 
vertisements effectively.  The  fact  that  the  "Want 
Ad"  columns  are  carefully  read  by  certain  groups  of 
people   results  in  a  sure,  even  if  not  always  a  large 


196  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

audience  for  the  manufacturer  who  puts  his  adver- 
tising message  in  those  cokmins. 

(3)  Foreign  advertising  in  a  newspaper  is  ordina- 
rily the  advertising  of  manufacturers  whose  plants  are 
located  elsewhere  than  in  the  city  in  which  the  news- 
paper is  published.  When  modern  advertising  be- 
gan to  develop,  the  newspapers  were  practically  the 
only  available  media  for  a  national  campaign. 
Then  came  the  magazines,  arid  for  a  while  the  news- 
papers were  less  used  by  national  advertisers.  Of 
late  years,  however,  manufacturers  have  more  and 
more  used  newspapers  in  connection  with  magazines 
and  other  forms  of  advertising,  and  some  have  used 
newspapers  exclusively.  Xewspapers  offer  to  the  na- 
tional advertiser  an  effective  method  of  concentrating 
a  sales  appeal  in  a  desirable  territory,  either  at  the 
beginning  of  a  campaign  or  after  the  campaign  has 
started  and  weaknesses  have  developed  in  certain  lo- 
calities. 

3.  How  newspapers  are  used  by  manufacturers. — 
In  selling  products  of  a  certain  sort,  it  is  often  good 
policy  not  to  attempt  to  cover  the  whole  country  at 
the  start,  but  to  "open  up"  one  jobbing  center  at  a 
time. 

Newspaper  advertising  may  be  employed  success- 
fully in  such  a  case.  The  local  newspaper  cam- 
paigns wull  probably  be  supported  by  sampling  and 
the  use  of  other  advertising  media.  Grocery  spe- 
cialties are  ordinarily  introduced  in  this  way.  Later, 
as  in  the  case  of  Ivory  Soap,  for  example,  the  greater 


HOW  PERIODICALS  ARE  USED  197 

part  of  the  advertising  appropriation  may  be  spent 
in  the  magazines.  These  advertisers,  however,  keep 
close  track  of  the  distribution  and  sale  of  their  prod- 
ucts, and  whenever  they  find  a  city  in  which  per  cap- 
ita consumption  is  below  normal,  a  concentrated  news- 
paper campaign  is  often  undertaken  in  order  to  in- 
crease sales  locally.  Altho  some  national  advertisers 
use  newspapers  the  year  around,  most  of  the  "for- 
eign" newspaper  advertising  appears  only  for  limited 
periods.  The  Coca-Cola  Company,  for  example,  uses 
newspapers  chiefly  when  there  are  conventions  or  un- 
usual gatherings  in  a  certain  city,  and  it  is  desirable 
to  reach  those  in  attendance  in  an  intensive  way. 
Other  advertisers  cultivate  a  local  field  by  using  news- 
paper advertisements  for  a  period  of  a  month,  two 
months,  half  a  year  or  longer. 

4.  Size  of  newspaper  advertisements. — The  stand- 
ard newspaper  page  consists  of  seven  columns  of  thir- 
teen pica  ems  (2%  inches)  in  width,  and  from  twenty 
to  twenty-two  inches  in  depth.  In  the  larger  cities 
the  eight  column  newspaper  is  being  adopted  very  rap- 
idly. Very  few  campaigns  will  warrant  the  use  of  an 
entire  page  for  each  advertisement.  Some  advertisers 
make  all  their  newspaper  advertisements  the  same  size. 

The  question  of  the  number  of  insertions  and  the 
size  of  space  is  one  of  the  most  difficult  ones  in  all  ad- 
vertising. The  larger  sizes  of  space  command  the 
greater  attention.  A  newspaper  is  issued  365  days 
in  a  year.  The  question  is,  "How  often  do  I  need  to 
advertise  and  how  small  can  my  space  be  in  order  to 


198  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

get  the  attention  I  desire  ?"  The  problem  can  only  be 
answered  by  constant  tests.  The  first  step  is  to  de- 
cide upon  a  uniform  proportion.  The  smallest  ad- 
vertisement with  pleasing  proportions  is  the  one 
column  50-line  advertisement ;  it  is  approximately  sy^ 
inches  deep.  The  two  column  advertisement  of  this 
same  proportion  is  practically  7  inches  deep  and  totals 
200  lines.  The  following  table  shows  the  different 
sizes  of  advertisements  which  may  be  made  from  this 
proportion : 


Columns  in 

Depth  in 

Depth  in 

Total  number 

width 

lines 

inches 
(approximately) 

of  lines 

1 

50 

31/2 

60 

2 

100 

7 

200 

3 

150 

lOVa 

450 

4 

200 

14 

800 

5 

250 

181/2 

1250 

6 

300 

21  y2 

1800 

The  Sims  Cereal  Company  has  a  certain  limited 
appropriation  which  is  based  upon  the  expected  sales 
in  any  particular  city.  It  has  experimented  with  the 
smallest  size  advertisement  and  finds,  that  in  order 
to  get  returns,  it  must  advertise  at  least  once  a  week. 
It  finds  that  the  returns  drop  in  a  greater  proportion 
to  the  investment  if  it  advertises  only  once  every  two 
weeks  and  that  they  do  not  increase  in  proportion  to 
the  investment  if  it  advertises  two,  three,  four,  five 
or  six  times  a  week.  It  has  found  the  particular  day 
of  the  week  in  which  it  is  most  profitable  to  advertise 
and  has  established  once  a  week  as  the  minimum  num- 


HOW  PERIODICALS  ARE  USED  199 

ber  of  insertions.  As  the  territory  produces  busi- 
ness, it  increases  the  size  of  space  until  all  52  adver- 
tisements in  its  year's  campaign  are  of  the  200  line 
size.  Then  it  commences  with  the  450  line  size  until 
all  52  advertisements  are  of  that  size  in  that  city  and 
so  proceeds  to  increase  the  size  of  space  on  the  mini- 
mum number  of  insertions  advisable  until  it  has 
reached  the  page  unit.  By  increasing  its  size  of 
advertisement  on  the  same  proportion,  the  expense 
of  making  drawings  of  different  shapes  is  saved,  it  is 
possible  to  achieve  uniformity  in  mechanical  layout 
and  the  reader  recognizes  the  advertisements  as  having 
grown  in  size  but  not  having  changed  in  form.  The 
reader  is  hardly  conscious  of  any  variation  in  the  fre- 
quency of  the  appearances  of  an  advertisement,  but  he 
is  mightily  impressed  by  increase  in  size. 

5.  Amount  of  space  used  in  newspapers. — Some 
national  advertising  campaigns  in  newspapers  call  for 
insertions  every  day,  some  three  times  a  week,  some 
twice  a  week,  some  once  a  week  and  some  at  other  in- 
tervals. The  advertiser  must  be  careful  in  choosing 
his  days  and  the  frequency  of  insertion. 

The  amount  of  space  one  can  afford  to  use  in  the 
newspaper,  the  amount  of  space  in  each  paper  to  be 
used  in  order  to  secure  the  desired  attention,  the 
length  of  the  campaign,  and  the  frequency  of  inser- 
tions all  depend  on  the  nature  of  the  product  adver- 
tised, the  habits  of  possible  customers  in  relation  to 
the  newspaper,  and  the  size,  display  and  frequency  of 
other  advertising  in  the  same  newspaper. 


200  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

6.  Use  of  magazines. — The  magazine  generally  is 
recognized  as  the  great  national  medium.  It  is  used 
to  advertise  products  which  have  a  national  distri- 
bution or  national  sales  possibilities.  It  is  employed 
for  a  great  number  of  different  kinds  of  goods.  One 
kind  of  magazine  advertising  is  that  which  has  for  its 
purpose  the  sending  of  consumers  to  retail  stores  to 
buy  the  products  of  advertising  manufacturers. 
Perhaps  the  majority  of  magazine  advertisements 
are  of  this  sort.  Another  large  group  is  composed 
of  the  advertisements  of  manufacturers  and  dealers 
who  do  business  by  mail.  Advertisements  in  this 
class  may  be  intended  either  to  induce  immediate  mail 
orders,  or  they  may  have  for  their  purpose  the  elicit- 
ing of  inquiries  from  possible  purchasers,  which  are 
followed  up  by  the  advertiser  and  later  develop  into 
sales.  Inquiries  from  readers  are  the  primary  object, 
too,  of  some  advertisers  whose  goods  are  sold  thru 
dealers ;  the  inquiries  are  turned  over  to  local  dealers 
after  being  obtained  thru  magazine  advertising. 
Other  inquiries  obtained  thru  advertising  are  turned 
over  to  the  advertiser's  salesmen  to  be  developed  into 
sales  if  possible. 

Some  magazine  advertising  has  for  its  chief  pur- 
pose the  obtaining  of  distribution.  The  word  dis- 
tribution is  arbitrarily  used  by  advertisers  to  refer 
to  the  handling  of  goods  by  retailers.  A  manufac- 
turer who  is  advertising  "to  get  distribution"  is  trying 
to  induce  retailers  to  handle  his  product.  After  dis- 
tribution is  obtained,  magazine  advertising  may  be 


HOW  PERIODICALS  ARE  USED  201 

used  to  increase  the  good-will  and  cooperation  of 
dealers. 

A  few  retailers  advertise  in  magazines — ordinarily, 
tlio,  only  when  they  want  mail  orders,  or  when  a  chain 
of  stores  has  retail  establishments  in  many  cities. 
The  S.  S.  Kresge  Company  having  170  retail  stores 
in  different  parts  of  the  United  States  uses  magazines 
to  advertise  its  services. 

To  catalog  all  the  possible  uses  of  magazine  ad- 
vertising would  be  to  state  the  purposes  of  the  ma- 
jority of  all  the  national  advertising  campaigns. 
There  are  hundreds  of  things  that  can  be  done  with 
media  of  large  circulation  reaching  readers  all  over 
the  country.  The  magazine  more  than  any  other 
medium,  perhaps,  has  made  it  possible  for  the  manu- 
facturer to  establish  a  sure  market  for  his  goods — to 
|)ut  them  in  packages,  trade-mark  them,  and  then 
to  tell  the  consuming  public  about  them  in  such  a 
forceful,  attractive  way  that  a  steady  demand  for 
them  is  gradually  built  up.  jVIagazine  advertising 
has  been  an  exceedingly  effective  tool  in  bringing  the 
manufacturer  and  his  market  close  together,  in  edu- 
cating the  public  with  respect  to  new  things,  in  teach- 
ing values,  and  in  standardizing  the  use  of  hundreds 
of  time  and  labor-saving  devices  all  over  the  country. 

One  of  tlie  most  extensive  magazine  campaigns 
ever  conducted  was  that  for  tlie  sale  of  the  eleventh 
edition  of  the  Encyclopedia  Britannica.  Several 
pages,  sometimes  with  inserts,  were  used  in  each  issue 
of  a  large  list  of  national  magazines.     The  pur])ose 


202  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

of  the  campaign  was  twofold :  First,  to  tell  the  pub- 
lic about  the  encyclopedia  and  to  create  interest  in  it; 
second,  to  obtain  inquiries,  which  were  turned  over  to 
salesmen  in  the  field.  There  was  little  expectation 
that  direct  mail  orders  would  result  in  sufficient  num- 
ber to  pay  for  the  advertising.  A  few  orders  came  di- 
rect by  mail;  most  of  the  business,  however,  was  ob- 
tained thru  salesmen.  The  advertising  was  a  tremen- 
dous help  to  the  salesmen  in  two  ways.  The  inquiries, 
of  course,  gave  the  salesmen  direct  "leads"  in  many 
cases.  A  man  who  has  taken  the  trouble  to  inquire 
about  something  that  is  advertised,  and  who  has  re- 
ceived a  large  amount  of  education  material  thru 
the  mail,  is  an  excellent  prospect  for  a  salesman. 
But,  even  when  a  salesman  called  on  a  possible  pur- 
chaser who  had  not  sent  in  an  inquir}',  the  salesman 
could  be  reasonably  sure  that  the  prospect  already 
knew  of  the  encyclopedia,  and  that  his  interest  to  some 
extent  must  have  been  aroused  in  it.  A  very  large 
number  of  sets  of  the  encyclopedia  were  sold  as  a  result 
of  the  excellent  advertising  supplementing  the  work 
of  a  considerable  force  of  personal  salesmen.  Thou- 
sands of  business  houses  use  the  magazines  in  part 
or  in  whole  to  produce  "inquiries"  which  their  sales- 
men "follow  up"  with  personal  calls. 

7.  Use  of  farm  journals. — In  1920  a  little  less  than 
half  of  the  population  of  the  country  (46  per  cent) 
was  rural.  While  many  farmers  read  the  general 
magazines,  magazine  circulation  is  chiefly  in  the  cities 
and  larger  towns.     Farm  journals  are  probably  the 


HOW  PERIODICALS  ARE  USED  203 

best  media  for  reaching  farm  dwellers.  The  pur- 
poses for  which  farm  journals  are  used  does  not  differ 
greatly  from  those  for  which  magazines  are  utilized. 
For  a  long  time  it  was  thought  that  farm  publications 
should  be  used  to  advertise  only  things  particularly 
adaptable  to  farm  use.  As  a  result,  the  advertising 
columns  featured  chiefly  farm  machinerj%  farm  sup- 
plies, household  utensils  and  mail-order  advertise- 
ments for  a  variety  of  things  that  could  be  sold  readily 
in  the  country  but  not  so  readily  in  the  cities.  Now, 
however,  many  advertisers  are  beginning  to  realize 
that  farm  wants  do  not  differ  greatly  from  city  wants, 
and  that  anything  in  general  use  can  be  brought  to 
the  attention  of  farmers  thru  the  medium  of  the  farm 
journals  more  effectively  than  in  any  other  way.  Ac- 
cordingly, the  modem  farm  journal  is  likely  to  carry 
advertisements  of  breakfast  food,  clothing,  invest- 
ments, automobiles  and  all  the  other  many  things  that 
are  advertised  in  magazines.  These  advertisements 
are  often  exactly  the  same  as  the  advertisements  used 
in  media  circulating  in  the  cities. 

Farm  journals,  as  has  already  been  said,  have  for 
the  most  part  territorial  circulation.  The  extent  to 
which  farm  journals  as  a  class,  and  the  extent  to 
which  any  particular  farm  journal  is  to  be  used  in  a 
campaign  depend  on  the  thing  advertised  and  the 
nature  of  the  field  to  be  reached.  Some  things  can- 
not be  used  on  tlie  farm;  it  would  be  foolish  to  tell 
about  them  in  farm  papers.  In  other  cases,  the  line 
of  least  resistance  is  to  go  to  city  dwellers  who  have 


204.  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

ready  access  to  stores  handling  the  advertiser's  goods. 
In  some  states  the  farm  population  is  negligible;  in 
Rhode  Island,  for  instance,  only  three  and  three- 
tenths  of  the  population  is  classed  as  rural,  and  in 
Massachusetts  only  five  and  two-tenths.  To  do  much 
business  in  North  Dakota,  on  the  other  hand,  the 
farm  trade  is  absolutely  necessary,  because  eighty- 
nine  per  cent  of  the  people  in  that  state  are  found 
on  the  farms  and  in  very  small  towns. 

8.  Use  of  trade,  technical  and  class  publications. — 
Trade,  technical  and  class  publications  are  used 
chiefly  in  advertising  campaigns  where  it  is  advisable 
to  reach  and  influence  a  certain  class  of  people. 
Trade  papers,  therefore,  contain  advertisements 
chiefl3^  of  manufacturers  and  jobbers  who  wish  to  in- 
duce dealers  to  handle  their  goods.  A  technical  pub- 
lication for  dentists  carries  advertisements  chiefly  of 
dental  supply  houses  and  of  other  advertisers  who 
particularly  wish  the  good-will  of  dentists.  A  class 
publication  for  teachers  contains  advertisements  of 
books  and  appliances  of  particular  interest  to  the 
teaching  profession. 

Trade,  technical  and  class  publications  cannot  sell 
space  at  as  low  a  rate  as  newspapers  and  magazines 
having  twenty  or  even  a  hundred  times  their  circula- 
tion. Its  actual  cost,  however,  may  be  much  less,  say 
$50  a  page  in  one  issue  of  15,000  circulation  as  against 
$7,000  for  a  page  in  a  national  weekly  with  2,250,000 
readers. 

Trade  papers  are  often  used  by  manufacturers  to 
tell  dealers  about  advertising  that  is  to  be  done  to 


HOW  PERIODICALS  ARE  USED  205 

try  to  influence  consumers.  Other  trade  paper  ad- 
vertising is  designed  to  induce  orders  from  dealers. 
Trade  paper  advertising  differs  from  consumer  ad- 
vertising in  that  in  consumer  advertising  emphasis 
is  put  on  the  uses  and  quality  of  the  article  adver- 
tised, while  in  dealer  advertising  the  emphasis  is  put 
on  the  profit  to  the  dealer,  the  amount  of  consumer 
advertising  that  is  being  used  to  help  the  dealer  move 
the  goods  and  the  gene/al  merchandising  policies  of 
the  advertiser. 

One  of  the  interesting  developments  of  trade  paper 
advertising  is  the  use  of  space  in  trade  papers  by  the 
proprietors  of  other  advertising  media.  Publish- 
ers of  farm  journals  often  feel  that  to  assist  their 
advertising  patrons  properly  to  distribute  merchan- 
dise, the  dealers  must  be  acquainted  with  the  advertis- 
ing done  in  the  farm  papers;  therefore  the  farm  jour- 
nals are  taking  liberal  space  in  trade  publications  to 
advertise  their  own  publications  and  their  advertisers. 
One  farm  journal  takes  a  four-page  insert  once  each 
month  in  the  leading  trade  publications  reaching  the 
general  stores,  the  grocery  stores,  the  hardware  deal- 
ers and  the  implement  dealers  of  his  territory.  In 
these  pages,  the  publisher  of  the  farm  journal  tells 
the  dealers  of  the  new  campaigns  about  to  be 
launched  in  his  publication  and  reprotluces  some  of 
the  advertisements.  This  service  is  furnished  without 
additional  charge  to  all  advertisers  taking  a  certain 
amount  of  space  in  the  farm  publication.  A  great 
metropolitan  newspaper  takes  regular  space  in  trade 

XIII— 15 


206  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

papers  each  week,  listing  the  products  which  are  ad- 
vertised in  the  newspaper  and  urging  dealers  to  han- 
dle and  push  the  advertised  goods. 

Advertisers  are  coming  to  realize  the  power  of  the 
dealer  to  make  or  break  any  advertising  campaign, 
and,  as  the  trade  papers  increase  in  prestige  and  im- 
portance, they  will  be  increasingly  used  as  a  definite 
and  valuable  part  of  many  advertising  campaigns. 

9.  Use  of  foreign  language  publications. — Only 
53.8  per  cent  of  the  population  of  the  United  States 
are  of  native  white  parentage;  14.5  per  cent  are  for- 
eign born,  and  an  additional  14  per  cent  are  of  for- 
eign parentage.  Many  of  the  foreign  born  can  be 
reached  only  by  foreign  language  publications,  and 
these  same  media  can  be  used  to  reach  effectively 
many  others  of  foreign  parentage  and  of  mixed  par- 
entage. Primarily  a  foreign  language  publication  is 
used  by  local  retail  advertisers  who  are  of  the  same 
race  as  the  readers  of  the  publication.  Other  large 
users  of  space  are  the  department  stores  and  other  re- 
tail establishments  that  have  a  general  appeal,  and 
are  as  eager  to  get  the  trade  of  those  born  abroad  as 
they  are  to  get  the  trade  of  native  Americans.  Ob- 
viously, a  manufacturer  making  something  that  would 
appeal  particularly  to  the  people  from  a  certain  coun- 
try would  advertise  in  publications  going  primarily 
to  those  people.  Few  manufacturers  are  in  this  class, 
however.  Nearly  everything  that  is  made  has  an  ap- 
peal to  people  of  all  nationalities;  accordingly,  the 
foreign  language  newspapers  are  more  and  more  be- 


HOW  PERIODICALS  ARE  USED  207 

ing  used  by  advertising  manufacturers  in  the  same 
way  that  they  use  publications  in  the  English  lan- 
guage. 

10,  Use  of  directories. — Some  advertisers  trace 
their  initial  step  back  to  directory  advertisements. 
It  is  said  that  among  directory  advertisers  the  news- 
papers find  their  most  profitable  field  for  the  develop- 
ment of  newspaper  advertisers. 

Several  attempts  have  been  made  from  time  to  time 
to  put  directory  advertising  on  a  basis  allowing  it 
to  be  used  in  national  advertising  campaigns.  At 
present,  directory  advertising  is  for  the  most  part  lo- 
cal. Space  in  the  five  automobile  Blue  Books  is  often 
purchased  by  manufacturers  engaged  in  a  national 
campaign,  and  the  time  may  come  when  telephone 
director}'  advertising  will  be  used  in  the  same  way. 
The  possibilities  of  telephone  directories  in  a  national 
campaign  seem  to  be  great.  This  medium  gives  a  na- 
tional advertiser  an  opportunity  to  publish  the  names, 
addresses  and  telephone  numbers  of  his  dealers  in 
each  community. 

11.  Size  of  space  in  periodicals. — Probably  the 
most  difficult  tiling  for  any  advertiser  to  determine  in 
j)laiining  a  campaign  in  periodicals  is  the  size  and 
space  it  is  advisable  for  him  to  use.  Some  contend 
that  small  advertisements  inserted  often  will  bring 
more  returns  than  large  advertisements  inserted  less 
often.  Others  say  that  in  the  magazine  the  page 
is  the  ideal  unit.  ^lany  advertisers  now  use  the 
double  spread  exclusively  and  in  special  cases  adver- 


208  ADVERTISING  CA^MPAIGNS 

iisers  have  used  as  many  as  ten  pages  in  one  issue 
of  some  of  the  most  costly  pubhcations.  As  the  num- 
ber of  advertisers  increases,  the  size  of  space  of  each 
advertisement  appears  also  to  increase.  In  1872, 
the  average  number  of  lines  per  advertisement  in  the 
Century  magazine  was  thirty-eight;  in  1913,  the  aver- 
age was  169.  In  1890,  about  one-fifth  of  the  total 
advertising  space  used  in  magazines  consisted  of  full- 
page  advertisements.  Today  the  ratio  is  better  than 
one-half.  In  1880,  half -page  spaces  were  used  about 
two  and  one-half  times  as  often  as  full-page  spaces; 
in  1890,  they  were  used  less  than  twice  as  often,  and 
now  probably  less  than  one-half  as  often. 

Professor  Walter  Dill  Scott  finds  the  mortality 
rate  of  advertisers  is  much  greater  among  the  users  of 
small  space  than  among  the  users  of  large  space.  He 
has  made  a  tabulation  of  all  the  firms  located  west 
of  Buffalo  which  advertised  in  the  Ladies'  Home 
Journal  during  eight  years,  showing  that  the  adver- 
tisers who  used  the  largest  size  space  lasted  the  long- 
est.    The  following  is  the  table: 

Number  of  years  the  firms  Average  number  of  lines  used 

continued  to  advertise  annuaUij  by  each  firm 

1  year  56  lines 

2  years  116  lines 

3  years  168  lines 

4  years  194  lines 

5  years  192  lines 

6  years  262  lines 

7  years  218  lines 

8  years  600  lines 


HOW  PERIODICALS  ARE  USED  20i> 

Professor  Scott  comments  as  follows:  "This  would 
seem  to  indicate  that,  in  general,  if  a  firm  uses  5G 
lines  annually  in  the  Ladies'  Home  Journal,  the  re- 
sults will  be  so  unsatisfactory  that  it  will  not  try  it 
again.  If  it  uses  116  lines  annually,  it  will  be  en- 
couraged to  attempt  it  the  second  year,  but  will  then 
drop  out.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  it  uses  600  lines  an- 
nually, the  results  will  be  so  satisfactory  that  it  will 
continue  to  use  the  same  magazine  indefinitely." 

Many  advertisers  find  their  records  of  results  in- 
crease in  proportion  to  the  size  of  space  used.  The 
Minnesota  Harness  Factory  had,  for  several  years, 
used  quarter  and  eighth  page  advertisements  in  the 
leading  farm  papers  of  the  northwest.  The  advertise- 
ments were  all  keyed  and  the  cost  per  inquiry  care- 
fully watched.  With  tlie  introduction  of  the  tractor 
and  the  automobile  the  cost  per  inquiry  in  relation  to 
a  harness  is  rapidly  on  the  increase.  Realizing  that 
size  of  advertisements  makes  a  powerful  impression  on 
dealers  and  finding  that  their  salesmen  were  not  in- 
clined to  show  proofs  of  the  small  advertisements,  the 
Minnesota  Harness  Factory  decided  to  use  three- 
(|uarter  and  full  page  advertisements  only.  The 
company  expected  to  find  quite  a  decided  increase  in 
the  cost  per  inquiry,  however.  The  cost  per  inquiry 
on  the  eighth  and  (juarter  page  advertisements  liad 
averaged  $2.52.  The  year  that  the  three-quarter  and 
full  page  advertisements  were  introduced,  the  cost  per 
inquiry  was  cut  to  $1.67  on  an  average  and  the  fulJ 


210  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

page  advertisements  showed  75%  more  inquiries  than 
the  three-quarter  page  advertisements.  In  addition 
to  this,  the  salesmen  took  great  pride  in  the  new  larger 
advertisements  and  the  dealers  responded  in  propor- 
tion. 

REVIEW 

When  and  how  are  newspapers  ordinarily  used  by  national 
advertisers  ?     Magazines  ? 

If  a  manufacturer  of  smoking  tobacco  were  considering  media 
for  a  national  advertising  campaign,  what  are  the  chief  argu- 
ments for  and  against  his  use  of  technical  and  class  publications? 

What  kinds  of  things  can  be  advertised  profitably  in  farm 
papers  ? 

Why  does  the  publisher  of  a  farm  j  ournal  sometimes  advertise 
in  trade  papers? 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  USE  OF  SIGNS 

1.  Win/Iow  trims. — Experienced  advertisers  in 
planning  their  campaigns  seldom  overlook  anything 
that  can  help  them  to  sell  their  goods.  One  of  the 
"little  things"  of  a  campaign,  but  also  one  of  the 
things  that  can  do  much  to  make  the  rest  of  the  cam- 
paign effective,  is  the  furnishing  of  various  kinds  of 
store  signs  to  dealers.  It  is  not  enough  to  get  the 
dealer  to  handle  the  goods  and  then  to  use  periodicals 
to  induce  consumers  to  go  to  the  dealer  and  ask  for 
the  things  advertised.  If  this  is  all  that  is  done,  there 
is  still  a  gap  between  the  goods  on  the  dealer's  shelf 
and  the  impression  made  on  the  consumer  by  the  pe- 
riodical advertising.  To  bridge  this  gap  the  careful 
advertiser  sees  to  it  that  there  is  something  in  the 
dealer's  store  to  remind  the  visitor  of  things  he  has 
seen  advertised  in  newspapers  and  magazines,  and 
to  stimulate  his  desire  for  them. 

One  of  the  important  ways  of  aiding  the  dealer  to 
move  the  advertiser's  goods  from  his  shelves  is  to 
furnish  him  with  display  material  for  his  windows. 
The  dealer's  window  is  a  valuable  advertising  me- 
dium. Live  dealers  realize  the  value  of  their  win- 
dows; they  will  permit  nothing  to  go  into  them  that 

211 


212  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

does  not  possess  distinct  sales  values ;  and  usually  they 
are  willing  to  cooperate  with  the  manufacturer  who 
tries  to  aid  them  in  selling  the  things  they  have  in 
stock.  Material  that  is  to  be  used  for  display  pur- 
poses in  a  dealer's  window  is  called  a  window  trim. 
Some  national  advertisers  have  made  the  window  trim 
the  principal  feature  of  their  advertising  campaigns. 
Yale  &  Towne  in  introducing  the  Yale  door  check 
made  effective  use  of  a  modification  of  the  window 
trim.  A  Yale  door  check  was  placed  on  the  front 
door  of  every  retail  store  that  had  the  article  for 
sale.  A  cut-out  paper  arrow  was  pasted  on  the  glass 
of  the  door,  pointing  to  the  door  check,  and  bearing 
the  words,  "This  is  a  complete  door.  It  has  a  Yale 
door  check  affixed."  Then  black  footsteps  were  sten- 
ciled on  the  sidewalk  leading  to  the  door.  The  door 
check,  the  door  and  the  footsteps  were  reproduced 
in  the  national  magazine  advertising. 

2.  The  window  trim  and  national  sales  week. — 
Some  advertisers  plan  their  campaigns  to  reach  a  cli- 
max in  a  certain  specified  week,  and  prepare  elab- 
orate window  trims  for  dealers  during  that  week. 
The  "Hotpoint  drive"  illustrates  this  practice.  Dur- 
ing Hotpoint  Week  many  thousands  of  dealers  dis- 
played in  their  windows  Hotpoint  electrical  house- 
hold appliances,  and  double-page  advertisements  ap- 
peared at  the  same  time  in  the  magazines.  Sunkist 
Week  of  the  California  Fruit  Growers'  Association 
called  for  liberal  use  of  window  trims.  Large  ad- 
vertisements in  color  were  run  in  the  leading  maga- 


THE  USE  OF  SIGNS  213 

zines,  full-page  advertisements  were  placed  in  the 
newspapers,  and  dealers  were  furnished  with  window 
trim  and  other  kinds  of  displays.  The  California 
Fruit  Growers'  Association  paid  for  a  half-page  in 
each  newspaper,  with  the  understanding  that  the 
newspaper  would  ohtain  advertising  of  local  dealers 
who  handled  Sunkist  oranges  and  lemons,  to  fill  the 
remaining  half-page. 

Most  manufacturers  of  package  goods  find  it  ad- 
visable to  prepare  large  dummies  of  their  packages 
for  window  trimming  purposes.  These  dummies  are 
usually  carried  flat  and  are  easily  erected. 

3.  The  use  of  counter  display, — Another  popular 
form  of  dealer  signs  is  the  counter  display.  Some 
advertisers  design  their  packages  so  that  the  boxes 
will  make  a  natural  counter  display.  Robert  H.  In- 
gersoll  &  Brother  furnish  an  attractive  counter  rack 
from  which  Ingersoll  watches  may  be  suspended,  thus 
assuring  the  advertiser  that  his  product  is  conspic- 
uously brought  to  the  attention  of  every  store  visi- 
tor. 

Dealers  prefer  counter  displays  showing  the  goods 
themselves  rather  than  signs  that  merely  tell  about 
the  goods.  One  useful  type  of  counter  sign  is  sent 
out  by  a  manufactin*er  of  underwear.  It  is  obviously 
impossible  to  display  the  underwear  itself  on  a  coun- 
ter sign.  The  sign  is  about  ten  inches  long  by  five 
inches  high  and  triangular  in  shape.  On  the  face  in 
metal  is  the  trade-mark  name  of  tlie  article,  ajid  on 
the  reverse  side,  on  a  metal  j)late  facing  the  clerk,  are 


214  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

printed  instructions  regarding  sizes  and  the  best 
method  of  making  a  satisfactory  fit. 

In  displaying  certain  articles,  such  as  notions, 
counter  displays  are  of  great  importance.  Articles 
of  this  type  are  likely  to  be  put  in  a  drawer  or 
some  other  out-of-the-way  place  unless  the  manufac- 
turer furnishes  a  sufficiently  attractive  display  rack. 
The  advertising  of  the  Wisconsin  Pearl  Button  Com- 
pany centers  largely  around  the  cabinet  furnished  to 
dealers  for  the  proper  display  of  pearl  buttons. 

4.  How  to  get  dealers  to  use  signs. — There  is  much 
waste  in  the  distribution  of  dealer  signs.  Some 
manufacturers  ship  a  quantity  of  signs  to  every  dealer 
who  buys  their  goods.  Many  signs  sent  in  this  way 
are  never  used.  Other  manufacturers  employ  their 
own  window  trimmers  to  put  up  the  signs,  as  it  is 
found  that  in  few  cases  will  the  dealer  take  time  to 
place  a  window  trim  or  even  tack  up  a  shelf  card  him- 
self. As  the  life  of  a  window  trim  is  usually  not 
longer  than  two  weeks,  some  national  advertisers,  such 
as  W.  K.  Kellogg  and  the  National  Biscuit  Company, 
prefer  making  displays  of  dummy  packages  in  the 
dealer's  store  above  his  shelves;  these  displays  are 
usually  left  until  the  next  housecleaning  day,  which 
may  be  six  months  or  six  years  distant. 

Several  years  ago  the  Printers*  Ink  staff  made  an 
investigation  of  various  kinds  of  dealer  signs  in  an  ef- 
fort to  obtain  an  estimate  of  their  value,  the  attitude 
of  dealers  and  the  requirements  of  a  successful  store 
display.     The  following  are  excerpts  from  this  report : 


THE  USE  OF  SIGNS  215 

Several  dealers  were  prevailed  on  to  give  a  frank  statement 
of  their  attitude  toward  manufacturers'  counter  displays. 
Among  tliem  was  Charles  Holzhauer,  of  Newark,  New  Jersey, 
one  of  the  leading  pharmacists  in  the  state  of  New  Jersey 
and  past  president  of  the  New  Jersey  Pharmaceutical  Asso- 
ciation. Mr.  Holzhauer's  idea  of  counter  display  hinges 
principally  on  the  question  of  profit  in  the  article  to  be  dis- 
played. He  brings  out  the  fact  that  many  times  a  fine  dis- 
play has  to  be  refused  by  him  because  he  has  a  similar  article 
under  his  own  name  which  yields  him  a  better  profit.  Com- 
menting on  the  value  of  the  counter  display,  he  said : 

"Our  counter  space  is  valuable  and  we  must  put  it  to  the 
best  use.  We  use  counter-display  devices  very  often  where 
the  article  does  not  conflict  with  other  goods,  and  the  profit 
is  good.  A  great  deal  of  money  is  wasted,  I  believe,  in  get- 
ting up  material  of  this  sort,  which,  falling  into  the  dealer's 
hand,  is  at  once  consigned  to  the  ash-barrel  because  he  can- 
not sell  the  goods  at  a  profit." 

The  report  of  the  Printers'  Ink  investigators  in- 
cluded records  of  plans  and  results  of  many  different 
kinds  of  campaigns  in  which  the  attempt  was  made 
to  induce  dealers  to  use  the  various  kinds  of  store  dis- 
plays furnished  by  manufacturers.  One  of  the  most 
interesting  was  the  campaign  of  the  Burson  Knitting 
Company,  manufacturers  of  hosiery.  The  cost  of  the 
entire  campaign,  including  everything  down  to  trans- 
portation charges,  came  to  a  trifle  under  three  dollars 
a  set.  The  way  in  which  this  company  convinced 
•i,000  merchants  that  it  was  to  their  advantage  to  use 
the  displays  furnished  by  the  manufacturer  is  told  by 
one  of  the  officers  of  the  company : 

First,  we  advertised  the  display  in  the  trade  papers  which 
reached  our  field.     We  made  it  important  enough  to  devote 


216  AD\^RTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

page  spaces  to  it  exclusively.  We  showed  a  photograph  ot' 
the  completed  display  and  offered  to  tell  a  dealer  how  to  get 
one.  We  did  not  offer  to  send  the  outfit,  only  to  tell  hino 
how  to  get  it. 

To  all  inquirers  we  sent  a  booklet,  showing  ten  different 
ways  in  which  the  material  could  be  combined  to  make  ten 
different  displays — and  giving  all  the  arguments  for  its  use. 
A  postcard  was  inclosed  which  entitled  the  dealer  to  an  outfit 
without  charge.  The  dealer  was  led  first  to  inquire ;  then  he 
got  the  book,  which  he  was  able  to  study  at  his  leisure;  and 
finally,  when  he  thoroly  understood  the  proposition,  he  was 
led  to  ask  for  the  material.  If  he  wasn't  convinced  that  it 
would  pay  him,  he  would  never  ask  for  it.  ...  I  have  been 
told  by  a  merchant  that  I  could  have  his  windows  for  one  of 
our  big  displays  for  so  much  a  day.  "Thank  you,"  I  usually 
replied,  "but  if  your  windows  aren't  worth  any  more  than 
that  we  can't  afford  to  give  you  the  service.  This  display 
costs  a  great  deal  of  money  to  build,  and  the  company  is 
paying  ray  salary  and  that  of  my  assistants  simply  to  give 
this  service  to  those  merchants  who  are  important  enough  to 
deserve  it.  If  you  don't  think  that  your  windows  are  worth 
a  good  many  times  twenty-five  dollars  a  day  to  you,  we'll 
have  to  accept  your  own  valuation  of  them,  but  we  are  sorry 
to  say  that  it  isn't  high  enough  to  warrant  us  in  placing  the 
display  in  them." 

5.  Most  profitable  fields  for  window  and  counter 
display. — The  Printers'  Ink  investigation  brought 
out  the  fact  that  a^  many  as  five  different  counter  dis- 
plays of  well-known  advertised  brands  were  found 
at  one  time  in  one  of  the  most  exclusive  shops  in  the 
Wall  Street  section  of  Xew  York.  Sealpackerchief 
handkerchiefs,  Ingersoll  watches,  Ever-Ready  razors 
and  Paris  garters  were  displayed  in  most  of  the 
leading  men's  furnishing  shops.  The  report  con- 
tinues : 


•    THE  USE  OF  SIGNS  217 

The  hardware  field  is  probably  the  most  lucrative  of  them 
all.  From  interviews  with  the  retailers,  they  all  favor  the 
counter  displays  and  gladly  accept  them.  This  is  due  to 
the  fact  that  many  commodities  in  the  hardware  stores  are 
bought  on  impulse.  The  dealer  is  aware  of  this  situation, 
and  realizes  the  necessity  of  the  counter  display.  Many  of 
the  fine-tool  manufacturers  realize  that  in  order  to  have  the 
j)urchascr  appreciate  quality  they  must  display  the  tools  in 
an  artistic  manner.  The  L.  S.  Starrett  Company,  Athol, 
Massachusetts,  makes  a  fine  display  which  it  sends  to  the 
dealers.  In  order  that  the  dealer  may  avail  himself  of  this 
display,  it  is  necessary  for  him  to  buy  an  assorted  outfit 
amounting  to  $125.  The  company  makes  up  several  styles 
of  cases ;  some  are  placed  around  the  post  in  the  store,  others 
are  hung  on  the  wall.  Other  cases  have  drawers  to  hold 
surplus  stock. 

Manufacturers  are  at  liberty  to  draw  their  own  conclu- 
sions from  the  data  given.  A  few  general  conclusions  may, 
however,  be  drawn.  In  order  to  secure  representation,  a 
counter  display  should  fulfil  the  following  conditions : 

1.  It  should  be  distincth^,  so  that  the  dealer  will  feel  that 
it  will  add  something  to  his  store. 

2.  It  must  be  feature  goods  which  the  dealer  really  wants 
to  sell ;  i.e.,  goods  which  afford  him  a  good  margin  of  profit. 

3.  It  must  be  presented  as  a  means  to  help  him  sell  more 
goods  ;  not  as  a  bait  to  get  him  to  buy  more. 

6.  Cooperating  xvith  dealers  in  buying  signs. — 
With  so  many  signs  constantly  offered  to  them,  it  is 
natural  for  some  dealers  to  fail  to  realize  the  expense 
involved  in  the  preparation  of  a  sign  and  the  actual 
money  loss  when  a  sign  is  not  used  or  is  thrown  away. 
To  obviate  this  difficulty  some  manufacturers  sell 
tlieir  signs  to  dealers.  Of  course  the  number  of  deal- 
ers who  will  pay  for  display  material  advertising  a 
manufacturer's  line  is  much  smaller  than  the  num- 


218  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

ber  of  those  who  will  use  material  sent  them  free. 
On  the  other  hand,  when  a  dealer  pays  for  displays, 
the  manufacturer  can  be  certain  that  he  will  use  them. 
Many  dealers  realize  the  value  of  store  displays  of 
\^arious  sorts,  but,  because  the  cost  of  a  single  suit- 
able sign,  window  trim,  or  counter  display  would  be 
almost  prohibitive,  they  would  not  prepare  a  sign  on 
their  own  initiative.  The  manufacturer  is  able  to 
order  in  thousand  lots,  and  can  sell  the  sign  to  the 
dealer  at  a  low  price. 

Sometimes  a  manufacturer  finds  out  in  advance 
from  dealers  how  many  of  them  will  purchase  signs, 
before  having  them  made.  He  sends  a  photograph 
or  description  of  the  sign,  and  agrees  to  pay  half  of 
the  cost  of  the  display,  perhaps,  if  the  dealer  will  pay 
the  other  half.  In  such  cases  the  dealer's  name  is 
usually  printed  on  the  sign  as  prominently  as  the 
manufacturer's  if  the  sign  is  to  be  used  outside  the 
store.  Fence  signs,  flange  signs,  posters  and  street- 
car cards  are  often  distributed  in  this  way. 

It  is  obvious  that  if  a  dealer  is  to  pay  his  own 
money  for  signs,  he  must  keenly  appreciate  their  value 
and  he  must  have  unusual  good-will  for  the  things 
the  signs  are  intended  to  advertise.  The  dealer  who 
has  an  exclusive  agency  for  an  article  is  more  likely 
to  buy  signs  than  a  dealer  who  handles  a  line  that  is 
also  found  in  all  the  other  stores  in  town.  One  of 
the  well-known  manufacturers  of  talking  machines 
at  one  time  prepared  elaborate  window  trims  at  the 
factory,  and  sold  them  to  dealers  for  five  dollars  each. 


THE  USE  OF  SIGNS  219 

A  common  method  of  making  dealers  realize  the 
value  of  display  material  is  to  give  it  to  dealers  only 
when  they  buy  a  certain  quantity  of  goods.  An 
initial  order  for  a  suitable  amount  of  goods  may  en- 
title the  dealer  to  a  variety  of  kinds  of  advertising 
material,  the  selection  to  be  made  by  the  dealer  and 
the  salesman  when  the  order  is  taken,  or  an  order  of 
so  many  cases  at  any  time  may  entitle  the  dealer 
to  certain  specified  kinds  and  amounts  of  signs. 

Another  method  of  impressing  dealers  with  the 
value  of  advertising  signs  sent  to  them  by  manufac- 
turers is  to  require  them  to  pay  for  the  space  in  local 
media,  while  the  manufacturer  furnishes  the  material. 
This  applies  to  street-car  cards  and  posters  as  well 
as  newspaper  advertising.  Sometimes  the  manufac- 
turer shares  the  cost  of  space, 

7.  The  use  of  posters. — The  poster  provides  in  the 
advertising  campaign  the  element  of  large  display. 
It  goes  out  and  arrests  the  attention  of  the  possible 
consumer  wherever  he  may  be.  Posters  are  usually 
intended  to  create  a  strong  but  a  brief  impression  on 
the  passer-by.  The  name  of  the  product  is  strikingly 
displayed,  with  perhaps  a  picture  linking  up  the  name 
with  the  article  or  its  use,  and  sometimes  a  terse  sell- 
ing point  or  two.  The  copy  must  be  very  brief,  be- 
cause people  ordinarily  do  not  stop  to  gaze  at  a  pos- 
ter; it  must  deliver  its  message  while  they  are  passing 
by.  Posters  are  often  used  as  supplementary  me- 
diums in  a  national  campaign.  Sometimes  in  dis- 
tricts where  there  is  much  illiteracy  or  where  the  pe- 


220  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

riodicals  have  limited  circulation,  the  striking  poster 
display  is  almost  the  only  medimn  an  advertiser  can 
profitably  use.  Posters  have  been  found  especially 
valuable  in  advertising  motor  accessories  and  auto- 
mobiles. The  appeal  of  the  poster  reaches  the  mo- 
torist at  a  time  when  he  is  likely  to  be  thinking  about 
his  car  and  its  needs. 

Poster  advertising  space  is  sold  on  monthly  con- 
tract. The  advertiser  usually  furnishes  the  bill-post- 
ing company  with  the  printed  or  lithographed  sheets 
for  posting,  providing  about  twenty  per  cent  more 
sheets  than  will  be  actually  displayed  in  order  to 
cover  waste  in  posting  and  to  permit  new  postings 
when  old  sheets  are  mutilated  or  destroyed. 

A  clever  use  of  posting  is  employed  by  the  Way 
Sagless  Spring  Company.  This  advertiser  "travels" 
a  poster  display  in  Chicago.  Monthly  contracts  are 
made  for  posters  in  different  parts  of  the  city.  One 
month  the  posters  appear  on  the  North  Side,  the 
next  month  on  the  South  Side,  and  the  next  month 
on  the  West  Side.  Each  part  of  the  city  is  billed 
regularly,  but  only  for  a  month  at  a  time. 

8.  Use  of  painted  bulletins. — Painted  bulletins  may 
be  used  in,  practically,  all  the  ways  in  which  posters 
are  used.  They  are  ordinarily  more  expensive  than 
posters  except  when  only  a  few  displays  are  wanted. 
In  this  case  the  painted  display  is  usually  the  cheaper 
because  the  advertiser  is  spared  the  expense  of  pre- 
paring lithographed  sheets. 

In  localities  where  poster  or  regular  bulletin  board 


THE  USE  OF  SIGNS  221 

displays  are  unavailable,  advertisers  find  wall  signs 
of  advantage.  Many  advertisers  make  a  custom  of 
painting  the  blank  walls  of  their  local  distributors. 
Just  as  it  was  formerly  the  custom  among  farmers  to 
depend  on  national  advertisers  for  the  painting  of 
their  barns,  so  today  many  dealers  rely  on  national 
advertisers  for  the  painting  of  their  store  buildings. 
It  is  not  an  easy  thing  for  a  national  advertiser  to 
choose  among  posters,  painted  bulletins  and  wall 
signs.  Most  of  the  larger  advertisers  employ  all 
three  methods,  choosing  one  or  another  for  a  com- 
munity as  local  conditions  may  dictate. 

9.  Use  of  street-car  cards. — The  street-car  card  is 
primarily  an  urban  advertising  medium.  Altho  elec- 
tric railways  are  fast  stretching  their  fingers  thru 
the  rural  districts,  street-car  advertising  up  to  the 
present  has  been  planned  chiefly  to  reach  the  inhab- 
itants of  large  cities  and  thickly  populated  districts. 
The  street-car  card  is  a  sign,  and  is  ordinarily  used 
as  any  other  sign — for  bold  display  and  small  amount 
of  copy,  intended  to  make  a  quick,  strong  impres- 
sion. Nevertheless  it  is  possible  to  say  more  on  a 
oar  card  than  on  almost  any  other  kind  of  sign  me- 
dium. 

Before  1000  space  in  street  cars  was  usually  sold 
by  individual  street  railway  companies  to  advertising 
companies  which  solicited  advertisements  locally. 
Now  car  advertising  all  over  the  country  is  controlled 
for  the  most  part  by  one  company.     The  national  ad- 

XIII— 16 


222  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

vertiser  can  buy  space  in  cars  in  all  cities,  if  he  wants 
to,  on  a  single  contract. 

The  present  recognition  of  the  possibilities  of  street- 
car advertising  is  largely  attributable  to  the  late 
Thomas  Balmer.  Before  he  was  appointed  advertis- 
ing director  of  the  Street  Railways'  Advertising  Asso- 
ciation, street-car  cards  were  usually  thought  of  as 
permanent  signs;  very  little  copy  was  used  and  few 
changes  of  copy  were  employed.  Mr.  Balmer  showed 
advertisers  the  possibilities  of  copy  on  street-car  cards, 
possibilities  of  teaser  campaigns  and  the  advantages 
of  inserting  cards  in  series.  Today  some  large  na- 
tional advertisers  use  as  many  as  six  different  cards 
in  the  street  cars  of  the  same  city  during  a  month.  A 
passenger  transferring  from  car  to  car  obtains  a  new 
impression  or  a  reenforcement  of  an  old  impression 
in  each  car  he  enters. 

As  our  cities  become  more  congested  and  each  in- 
dividual becomes  more  dependent  on  the  transit  com- 
panies, advertisers  have  been  quick  to  see  the  great 
possibihties  of  reaching  people  at  central  points  in  the 
transportation  system.  The  elevated  and  subway 
posters,  which  are  generally  classed  with  car  cards,  are 
fast  becoming  valuable  advertising  mediums.  Many 
advertisers  who  use  cards  in  the  cars  also  use  posters 
carrying  the  same  designs,  at  the  elevated  and  sub- 
way stations. 

10.  Parades  as  advertising  media. — The  parade 
may  be  an  advertising  medium.     When  so  used,  it 


THE  USE  OF  SIGNS  223 

should  be  cla'ssed  with  the  other  sign  media.  Com- 
mercial parades  seem  to  be  increasing  in  popularity, 
despite  the  fact  that  most  advertisers  furnish  floats 
under  protest.  A  properly  representative  float  for 
a  parade  in  a  large  city  can  seldom  be  prepared  for 
less  than  $200,  and  some  of  the  most  elaborately  de- 
signed and  lighted  floats  have  cost  as  much  as  $20,- 
000.  When  it  is  realized  that  a  float  is  seldom  used 
but  once,  the  question  of  the  advisability  of  this  form 
of  advertising  is  well  worthy  of  consideration.  An 
advertiser  in  answering  this  question  should  apply  the 
same  test  that  he  would  apply  to  any  other  medium: 
What  is  the  cost  per  possible  purchaser  reached,  and 
what  is  the  prestige  of  the  medium  in  the  minds  of 
possible  purchasers?  Is  the  crowd,  which  will  see  the 
float,  made  up  of  possible  purchasers,  and  how  large 
will  that  crowd  be?  Is  the  parade  of  sufficient  im- 
portance in  the  minds  of  those  watching  it  to  make 
lack  of  representation  by  any  advertiser  notice- 
able? 

It  has  become  a  custom  at  the  annual  convention  of 
the  Associated  Advertising  Clubs  of  the  World  to 
have  one  large  parade.  This  seems  to  set  the  stamp 
of  highest  authority,  on  the  value  of  the  parade  as  an 
advertising  medium.  The  parade  is  purely  a  supple- 
mentary medium.  It  is  of  little  value  unless  the  ad- 
vertiser is  already  known  to  his  audience,  because  it 
is  impossible  in  a  parade  to  do  more  than  give  bold 
display  to  a  name,  a  product  or  an  idea. 


224  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

REVIEW 

In  your  opinion,  should  a  manufacturer  pay  a  dealer  for  the 
use  of  window  space  to  advertise  the  manufacturer's  goods? 

What  particular  kind  of  inside  store  sign  would  be  best  for 
a  breakfast  food?  A  brand  of  cigars?  Shoes?  Carpenters' 
tools?     What  standard  would  you  apply? 

What  is  your  opinion  of  the  value  of  advertising  in  moving- 
picture  theaters?  Remember  that  different  things  influence  dif- 
ferent people.  Be  careful  not  to  let  possible  personal  prejudices 
influence  your  business  judgment. 

,  What  are  the  things  that  induce  a  dealer  to  use  store  signs 
supplied  by  manufacturers? 

How  can  the  various  kinds  of  sign  advertising  be  closely  con- 
nected with  periodical  advertising? 


CHAPTER  XV 

CAMPAIGNS  TO  OBTAIN  DISTRIBUTION 

1.  Four  kinds  of  campaigns. — Thus  far  in  our 
study  of  advertising  campaigns  we  have  considered 
the  elements  of  the  campaign  and  the  uses  to  which 
different  advertising  media  are  put.  Now  we  are 
to  consider  the  various  things  the  campaign  may  ac- 
complish and  the  ways  in  which  the  advertiser  adapts 
publicity  methods  to  make  them  conform  to  his  par- 
ticular purposes. 

In  general,  there  are  four  distinct  kinds  of  adver- 
tising campaigns,  apart  from  the  campaigns  of  re- 
tail stores: 

1.  Campaigns  to  obtain  distribution 

2.  Campaigns  to  obtain  dealer  cooperation 

3.  Mail-order  campaigns 

4.  Campaigns  to  influence  public  sentiment. 

In  the  present  chapter  and  in  the  three  that  fol- 
low it,  we  are  to  study  separately  each  of  the  four 
principal  classes  of  advertising  campaigns.  We  are 
concerned,  first,  with  campaigns  to  obtain  distribution. 

2.  Should  advertising  precede  distribution? — For 
years  advertisers  have  sought  a  universally  applicable 
answer  to  the  question,  "Shall  I  advertise  in  order  to 

226 


226  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

obtain  distribution,  or  shall  I  try  to  get  distribution 
before  I  advertise?"  The  manufacturer  who  adver- 
tises to  consumers  before  he  has  general  distribution 
of  his  product,  believes  that  he  cannot  induce  dealers 
to  stock  his  goods  until  the  dealers  have  seen  his  ef- 
forts to  create  consumer  demand  or  until  consumers 
have  proved  that  there  is  a  demand  by  actually  going 
into  stores  and  asking  for  the  advertised  goods. 

It  is  clear,  however,  that  advertising  preceding  dis- 
tribution is  bound  to  result  in  much  waste.  If  a  con- 
sumer has  his  interest  and  desire  for  a  new  product 
aroused,  asks  his  dealer  for  it,  and  is  told  that  the  lat- 
ter does  not  carry  it,  he  may  not  be  willing  to  wait  un- 
til the  dealer  can  order  it  for  him.  The  newly  aroused 
interest  is  likely  to  be  killed.  Furthermore,  most  ad- 
vertisers find  that  advertising  in  periodicals  alone  is 
often  not  enough  to  arouse  interest  in  something  new; 
it  must  be  supplemented  by  store  signs  and  the  active 
work  of  the  dealer.  For  these  reasons  many  manu- 
facturers try  to  get  general  distribution  for  their 
goods  before  doing  a  great  deal  to  bring  people  into 
stores  to  ask  for  them. 

The  problem  of  whether  advertising  or  distribution 
should  come  first  seems  to  be  similar  to  the  problem 
of  the  Irishman's  boots;  they  were  so  tight  he  could 
not  get  them  on  until  he  had  worn  them  a  year.  The 
problem  is  not  unsolvable,  however.  If  it  were,  there 
would  be  no  successful  advertising  campaigns.  Ad- 
vertisers now  recognize  that  neither  distribution  nor 
advertising  must  necessarily  come  first ;  in  many  cases 


DISTRIBUTION  CAMPAIGNS  227 

it  is  possible  to  get  distribution  and  to  arouse  con- 
sumer interest  simultaneously.  Mr.  William  H.  In- 
gersoU  says,  in  Printers*  Ink: 

Neither  distribution  nor  demand  can  precede  the  other 
without  loss.  If  we  are  going  to  wait  for  distribution,  we 
shall  wait  forever,  or  nearly  forever.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
we  are  going  to  create  a  demand  without  distribution,  with- 
out advertising — then  again  we  arc  going  to  delay  the  time 
that  we  reach  the  success  to  which  we  are  entitled.  In  other 
words,  the  most  economical,  most  efficient  way,  in  my  opin- 
ion, of  handling  this  subject  of  distribution  and  demand  is  to 
go  ahead  in  a  moderate  way  and  advertise,  take  the  sales 
methods  that  are  at  hand,  and  keep  the  demand  going  by 
getting  all  the  distribution  you  can. 

Dealers  are  influenced  both  by  advertising  that  is 
being  used  and  by  advertising  which  the  manufacturer 
convinces  them  he  is  about  to  use.  Salesmen  often 
carry  portfolios  of  present  or  projected  advertising, 
which  they  show  to  dealers  as  evidence  of  the  part 
the  manufacturer  is  willing  to  play  in  helping  dealers 
to  move  goods  from  their  shelves.  These  portfolios 
sometimes  show  not  only  the  advertisements  them- 
selves, the  list  of  media  and  the  dates  when  the 
advertisements  are  to  appear,  but  also  the  circulation 
of  every  medium  in  each  dealer's  own  town. 

3.  Starting  on  a  small  scah. — It  is  not  necessary 
for  a  manufacturer  to  begin  his  consumer  campaign 
with  national  advertising.  An  article  of  universal 
consumption  is  seldom  introduced  in  all  parts  of  the 
country  at  the  same  time.  Ordinarily  a  relatively 
small  territory  is  selected  as  a  "tryout  market."     In- 


1?28  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

tensive  sales  effort  is  used  there  to  interest  dealers, 
and  this  is  backed  by  various  kinds  of  local  adver- 
tising. It  is  entirely  possible  to  send  a  force  of  sales- 
men to  a  certain  city  to  work  with  the  dealers,  and  to 
start  a  newspaper,  street-car  and  poster  campaign  in 
the  same  city  simultaneously  with  the  arrival  of  the 
salesmen. 

Consider  the  problem  of  a  manufacturer  of  flour. 
Unless  he  had  tremendous  resources  he  would  not 
consider  attempting  a  national  campaign  until  he 
had  built  up  distribution  and  consumer  demand  by 
starting  out  in  a  single  center,  and  then  branching 
out  gradually  into  adjacent  territories.  If  he  were 
strong  enough  to  begin  with  a  section  of  the  country 
instead  of  with  a  small  section  of  a  state,  he  might 
plan  his  campaign  so  as  to  make  the  successive  steps 
in  its  development  coincide  with  the  divisions  of  the 
country  recognized  by  the  Federal  Reserve  bank  sys- 
tem. There  are  twelve  Federal  Reserve  banks,  each 
centering  a  district  which  is  largely  tributary  to  it.  If 
large  sections  of  the  country  are  to  be  used  as  units  in 
the  campaign,  probably  no  better  divisions  than  those 
established  by  the  Federal  banking  system  could  be 
found.  The  accompanying  map  shows  the  twelve  di- 
visions of  the  country,  the  amount  paid  for  flour  by 
consumers,  when  flour  is  $10  a  barrel,  and  the  per- 
cent of  total  consumption  which  is  represented  by  the 
expenditures  for  flour  in  each  district. 

4.  A  flour  campaign. — A  manufacturer  usually 
commences  with  his  home  territory  as  a  tryout  mar- 


DISTRIBUTION  CAMPAIGNS  229 

ket.  Assume  that  a  flour  manufacturer  has  a  factory 
in  Kansas  City,  the  center  of  Federal  Bank  District 
No.  10.  He  will  send  salesmen  to  dealers,  and  he 
will  choose  advertising  mediums  reaching  flour  con- 
sumers in  Kansas,  Nebraska,  Wyoming,  Colorado, 
and  parts  of  New  Mexico,  Oklahoma  and  Missouri. 
After  he  has  worked  up  his  business  in  this  district, 
he  will  probably  expand  into  Federal  District  No.  8, 
establishing  a  district  agency  in  St.  Louis  in  an  effort 
to  obtain  his  share  of  the  $118,305,500  market  in  this 
district. 

Other  conditions  being  favorable,  he  may  next  con- 
sider the  Chicago  district,  the  Dallas  district  or  the 
Minneapolis  district.  In  each  case  he  will  use  local- 
ized media,  such  as  newspapers,  billboards,  street 
cars  and  farm  papers  supplemented  by  sampling  and 
possibly  direct-by-mail  advertising,  repeating  the 
same  campaign,  changed  to  fit  local  conditions,  in 
eacli  territory. 

After  the  manufacturer  has  covered,  say,  four  or 
five  of  the  trade  territories,  and  has  obtained  what 
he  considers  satisfactory  distribution  in  each,  he  will 
be  in  a  position  to  consider  national  advertising,  using 
national  magazines,  national  farm  journals,  a  sched-, 
ule  of  national  posters,  or  a  schedule  of  the  leading 
newspapers  in  the  large  cities,  the  circulation  of  which 
linked  together  will  blanket  the  country. 

In  this  case,  as  in  many  others,  national  advertis- 
ing follows  a  long  period  of  local  advertising  coupled 
with  careful  cultivation  of  dealers.     For  many  prod- 


230 


DISTRIBUTION  CAMPAIGNS  231 

ucts  any  other  plan  than  this  would  be  too  wasteful 
and  too  expensive. 

5.  Distribution  for  an  article  of  limited  consump- 
tion.— In  marketing  an  office  appliance  sold  thru 
stationers,  a  manufacturer  would  proceed  in  a  very 
different  way  from  that  in  which  a  flour  campaign 
would  have  to  be  conducted.  National  advertising 
could  begin  almost  at  once,  because  he  could  bring 
a  direct  appeal  to  all  the  possible  distributors  within 
a  short  time.  Instead  of  a  total  of  25,000,000  fami- 
lies and  350,000  dealers,  as  in  the  case  of  the  flour 
manufacturer,  the  total  consumer  market  would  be 
only  about  1,000,000.  If  he  wished  to  distribute  thru 
the  stationers  he  would  need  to  reach  38,500,  while  if 
he  wished  to  limit  his  distribution  to  one  agent  in 
each  city  with  a  population  over  5,000  a  complete  dis- 
tribution would  be  less  than  1,500.  In  order  to 
reach  the  number  of  dealers  in  automobile  supplies 
he  might  send  salesmen  to  dealers  in  the  larger 
cities,  and  appeal  to  the  others  by  direct  adver-* 
tising  of  various  sorts — strong  sales  letters,  a  cata- 
log and  reproductions  of  the  consumer  advertisings 
Probably  he  would  also  use  the  advertising  columns 
of  the  trade  papers  in  order  to  talk  directly  with 
dealers. 

6.  Dangers  of  overstocking. — Some  manufactur- 
ers in  their  eagerness  to  make  large  sales  to  dealers, 
induce  them  to  buy  more  goods  than  they  can  sell 
within  a  reasonable  time.  At  the  beginning  of  a  cam- 
paign the  dealer  is  seldom  in  a  position  to  determine 


232  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

for  himself  just  how  many  of  the  new  products  he 
will  be  likely  to  sell.  The  manufacturer  should  see 
that  he  does  not  stock  too  heavily.  An  overstock 
often  means  the  loss  of  the  dealer's  good-will,  and  it 
usually  results  in  disastrous  price-cutting.  The  men 
who  are  overstocked  and  who  cut  prices  will  scarcely 
be  willing  to  order  again  when  then*  stock  is  gone,  and 
the  dealers  who  do  not  cut  prices  will  see  their  trade 
leaving  them  and  will  focus  their  resentment  on  the 
goods.  In  either  case,  the  manufacturer  loses.  A 
manufacturer  does  not  conduct  an  elaborate  campaign 
to  induce  first  sales  only ;  his  profits  must  come  from 
reorders,  and  reorders  are  received  only  when  the 
dealer  has  been  treated  fairly — when  prices  and  profits 
are  right,  when  the  manufacturer  has  done  his  part  to 
interest  consumers,  and  when  the  dealer's  first  stock 
has  been  large  enough  to  satisfy  immediate  demands 
but  small  enough  to  permit  a  rapid  turnover  of  the 
money  invested  in  it. 

The  Procter  &  Gamble  Company,  when  it  intro- 
duced Crisco,  sent  free  to  every  grocer  in  the  country 
six  cans  of  the  product.  Gratuitous  distribution  of 
small  sample  stocks  is  certainly  an  almost  ideal  way 
of  inducing  dealers  to  handle  a  new  line  of  goods, 
but  it  is  too  expensive  for  many  manufacturers  to 
use. 

7.  When  distribution  preceded  advertising. — 
When,  in  1906,  William  Wrigley,  Jr.,  jumped  into 
advertising  with  an  appropriation  of  $250,000,  many 
people  called  it  plunging.     They  did  not  know  about 


DISTRIBUTION  CAMPAIGNS  233 

the  long  years  of  preparatory  work  in  an  effort  to 
obtain  a  nation-wide  distribution.  Practically  all  the 
$250,000  was  spent  in  out-door  display,  street-car 
cards  and  window  trims.  Before  a  cent  of  this  ap- 
j)ropriation  was  spent  almost  complete  distribution 
liad  been  obtained  thru  direct  advertising  to  dealers. 
^Ir.  Wrigley  started  in  business  with  a  capital  of  $32. 
He  attempted  distribution  thru  premiums.  His  first 
venture  was  in  lamp  chimneys.  He  filled  lamp  chim- 
neys full  of  gum  and  sold  the  gum,  throwing  in  the 
lamp  cliimney.  He  studied  dealers,  and  offered  as 
premiums  the  things  they  really  wanted.  A  certain 
retail  grocer  needed,  say,  a  special  counter  scale. 
Along  came  a  circular  from  Wrigley  offering  an  at- 
tractive scale  free  if  the  grocer  would  go  to  his  whole- 
saler and  buy  $15  worth  of  gum. 

Thus,  step  by  step,  Wrigley  obtained  a  foothold. 
Then  he  established  a  great  direct-by-mail  advertis- 
ing campaign  to  dealers.  Multigraphed  circulars 
were  mailed  every  thirty  days  to  250,000  dealers 
whom  Mr.  Wrigley  wished  to  get  into  line.  If  12,- 
000  of  these  prospects  were  turned  into  customers  in 
aiiy  given  month  and  tlie  prospect  list  thus  reduced  to 
238,000,  an  addition  was  immediately  made  to  the  list 
so  that  the  number  of  names  was  brought  up  to  250,- 
000,  The  list  of  dealer  prospects  was  always  main- 
tained at  the  250,000  mark. 

The  national  advertising  did  not  commence  until 
the  company  had  been  in  business  fourteen  years. 
Therefore,  when  the  quarter  of  a  million  advertising 


234»  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

campaign  was  undertaken,  the  foundation  of  distribu- 
tion had  been  laid.  This  foundation  was  laid  so  suc- 
cessfully and  the  business  showed  such  a  fast,  steady 
increase  after  the  national  advertising  had  appeared, 
that  before  the  end  of  1916  the  company  was  spend- 
ing two  million  dollars  a  year  in  advertising. 

8.  Using  established  good-will  to  obtain  distribu- 
tion.— When  Mr.  Wrigley  put  Doublemint  gum  on 
the  market,  he  was  able  to  use  the  thousands  of  deal- 
ers who  were  already  handling  his  earlier  brand.  In 
less  than  sixty  days  500,000  distributers  for  the  new 
gum  were  obtained.  These  were  enlisted  from  the 
800,000  who  were  then  selling  Spearmint.  Each  of 
these  800,000  received  a  coupon  entitling  him  to  one 
box  of  the  new  gum,  provided  the  dealer  handed  it  to 
his  jobber  with  an  order  for  one  box  of  Spearmint  be- 
fore the  time-limit  indicated  on  the  coupon  expired. 

The  William  Wrigley,  Jr.,  Company  redeemed 
these  coupons  from  the  jobbers  at  the  regular  price 
of  sixty  cents  a  box,  thus  allowing  the  jobber  his 
usual  twelve  cents  profit ;  or,  to  put  it  in  another  way, 
the  company  paid  the  jobber  twelve  cents  to  deliver 
the  sample  box  to  the  dealer.  The  expense  was  very 
great;  in  all,  $300,000  was  paid  out  in  redemption 
money  to  secure  distribution,  but  for  every  box  of  the 
new  gum  given  away,  a  box  of  the  old  brand  was  sold ; 
in  this  way  the  expense  was  largely  offset.  The  plan 
enabled  the  company  to  take  advantage  of  distribution 
already  secured,  and  this  immediate  distribution  made 
possible  immediate  consumer  advertising  on  a  national 


DISTRIBUTION  CAMPAIGNS  235 

scale.  Furthermore,  by  getting  immediate  distribu- 
tion the  danger  of  substitution  was  greatly  reduced. 
If  the  company  had  started  to  advertise  with  hap- 
hazard distribution,  dealers  might  have  been  inclined 
to  talk  their  customers  into  using  other  gums,  and 
the  new  brand  would  have  been  deprived  of  an  op- 
portunity to  demonstrate  its  merit. 

REVIEW 

Should  distribution  or  consumer  advertising  come  first? 

Is  it  wise  to  try  to  introduce  a  new  product  in  all  parts  of  the 
countrj'  at  once?     WTiy?     ^\^lat  is  the  alternative? 

Is  it  advisable  to  launch  a  new  article  by  selling  it  both  to 
dealers  and  consumers  at  a  special  introductory  low  price?  What 
would  be  your  probable  action  if  you  paid  twenty  cents  for  a  new 
shaving  soap,  only  to  find  when  you  re-ordered  that  the  price  was 
twenty-five  cents? 

Some  people  contend  that  a  dealer  should  be  stocked  just  as 
heavily  as  possible  with  a  new  line  of  goods,  on  the  theory  that 
the  more  he  has,  the  harder  he  will  try  to  sell  them-  What  do 
you  think  of  this  policy?  Would  your  answer  be  different  if  the 
question  referred  to  an  old,  long  established  line  of  goods  which 
the  dealer  had  handled  for  years  ? 


CHAPTER  XVI 

CAMPAIGNS  TO  OBTAIN  DEALER  COOPERATION 

1.  Place  of  dealer  in  the  campaign. — The  attitude 
of  the  dealer  is  one  of  the  vital  considerations  in  plan- 
ning an  advertising  campaign.  The  success  of  the 
campaign  depends  to  a  great  extent  on  the  degree 
to  which  dealers  will  be  willing  to  cooperate  with  the 
manufacturer  in  the  sale  of  his  goods.  Sometimes 
the  dealer  will  not  cooperate.  If  he  is  openly  antag- 
onistic, the  campaign  can  scarcely  be  successful;  if 
he  is  indifferent,  success  can  be  bought  only  at  a 
great  price.  Some  manufacturers  seem  to  think  the 
dealer  owes  them  cooperation — that  he  should  lend 
his  active  efforts  to  encourage  any  sort  of  campaign 
for  the  promoting  of  sales  thru  retail  stores.  This 
attitude  on  the  part  of  manufacturers  is  responsible 
for  much  dealer  antagonism.  The  dealer  resents  at- 
tempts at  coercion;  he  resents  the  implication  that  he 
must  give  his  active  support  to  any  manufacturer 
simply  because  the  manufacturer  elects  to  distribute 
thru  the  dealer  and  conducts  some  sort  of  campaign 
to  help  the  dealer  sell  his  goods. 

Dealers  cannot  handle  every  line  that  is  offered 
them;  they  must  make  careful  selection  from  the  al- 
most countless  things  that  manufacturers  seek  to  in- 

236 


CAMPAIGNS  FOR  DEALER  COOPERATION      237 

duce  them  to  push;  and  they  are  likely  to  put  their 
efforts  behind  the  products  of  those  manufacturers 
who  wisely  seek  cooperation  by  proving  themselves 
most  willing  to  cooperate  unselfishly  with  dealers. 
The  attitude  of  the  advertiser  and  the  dealer  toward 
each  other  is  more  wholesome  than  it  used  to  be,  but 
there  is  still  room  for  improvement  in  the  understand- 
ing of  the  dealer  by  the  advertiser  and  in  the  under- 
standing of  the  advertiser  by  the  dealer. 

2.  Three  periods  of  dealer  cooperation. — At  the 
beginning  of  the  twentieth  century  many  manufactur- 
ers seemed  to  think  the  attitude  of  the  dealer  did  not 
count — that  the  force  of  advertising  with  resulting 
demand  on  the  part  of  consumer  would  require  deal- 
ers to  handle  advertised  goods,  and  that  competition 
among  dealers  for  the  trade  in  such  lines  would  make 
it  necessary  for  each  dealer  to  push  them.  This  was 
the  period  of  "Force  the  dealer."  There  was  much 
talk  about  using  advertising  as  a  club  to  compel  the 
sale  of  advertised  goods,  whether  dealers  wanted  to 
sell  them  or  not.  Some  advertisers  were  successful 
in  "forcing  the  dealer,"  altho  at  very  great  cost. 
Others  found  that  it  is  unwise  to  try  to  make  dealers 
do  something  they  do  not  want  to  do.  It  was  dis- 
covered that  many  dealers  can  induce  their  customers 
to  buy  what  they  recommend,  regardless  of  an  orig- 
inal intention  on  the  part  of  consumers  to  buy  some- 
thing else.  "Forcing  the  dealer"  in  general  proved 
to  be  an  expensive  and  wasteful  method  of  inducing 
sales,  even  in  the  few  cases  in  which  it  was  successful. 

XIII— 17 


238  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

3.  Period  of  "Bluff  the  dealer/* — Following  the 
"Force  the  dealer"  period,  which  lasted  for  about  ten 
years,  came  another,  similar  to  it,  but  marking  a  sort 
of  half-way  stage  between  the  crude  methods  of  the 
early  days  and  the  more  intelligent  methods  of  ob- 
taining cooperation  in  vogue  today.  This  might  be 
called  the  period  of  "Bluff  the  dealer."  The  adver- 
tiser began  to  have  some  conception  of  the  dealer's 
attitude;  he  did  not  ignore  the  dealer's  opinions — he 
did  not  merely  advertise  to  consumers  and  trust  to 
consumer  demand  to  force  the  dealer  into  line.  He 
began. to  cater  to  the  dealer  and  to  try  to  make  him 
eager  to  have  a  part  in  the  large  sales  which  were  ex- 
pected as  a  result  of  the  manufacturer's  advertising. 
He  did  this  by  talking  grandly  to  the  dealer  about 
the  large  scale  of  the  projected  advertising  campaign. 
He  took  space  for  his  consumer  advertisements  in  me- 
diums that  the  dealers  were  sure  to  read.  He  did 
everything,  in  short,  to  impress  the  dealer  with  the 
importance  of  the  manufacturer  and  with  the  size  and 
probable  effectiveness  of  his  advertising.  The  adver- 
tiser was  not  really  bluffing;  he  really  carried  out  his 
largely  advertised  advertising  plans,  but  he  deluded 
himself,  and  he  tried  to  delude  the  dealer,  into  think- 
ing that  those  plans,  with  nothing  added,  were  enough 
by  themselves  to  deserve  and  to  obtain  the  cooperation 
of  the  trade. 

4.  Period  of  "Help  the  dealer/' — The  third  and  the 
present  period  of  dealer  cooperation  is  the  period  of 
"Help  the  dealer  "     Its  basis  is  the  idea  that  dealers 


CAMPAIGNS  FOR  DEALER  COOPERATION      239 

must  be  helped  and  educated,  rather  than  forced  or 
bluffed.  The  period  came  into  existence  when  ad- 
vertisers generally  began  to  realize  that  the  dealer  is 
not  a  mere  distributing  machine,  but  that  he  is  a  pow- 
erful force  to  be  reckoned  with.  In  the  early  days 
of  national  advertising,  "consumer  demand"  was  as- 
sumed to  be  a  thing  of  prime  importance.  If  enough 
consumers  could  be  influenced  to  want  advertised 
goods,  the  problem  of  the  dealers  would  take  care  of 
itself.  We  hear  less  of  consumer  demand  nowadays. 
The  modern  phrase  is  "consumer  acceptance."  Na- 
tional advertising  is  no  longer  expected  to  do  all  the 
work  of  making  sales.  It  has  been  proved  in  many 
instances  that  advertising  does  not  create  such  an  in- 
tense desire  for  advertised  articles  that  consumers  in- 
sist on  having  those  articles  or  nothing.  Dealers  can 
and  do  switch  demand;  they  can  and  do  exert  a  tre- 
mendous influence  on  what  consumers  buy.  The 
fimction  of  national  advertising  is  no  longer  simply 
to  cause  consumers  to  "demand"  advertised  goods;  its 
chief  function  often  is  to  impress  advertised  goods  on 
the  minds  of  consumers  so  forcefully  that  when  those 
goods  are  suggested  to  them  by  dealers,  the  dealer 
suggestions,  added  to  the  impression  created  by  the 
advertising,  will  induce  them  quickly  and  with  little 
sales  effort  to  "accept"  the  advertised  article. 

Of  course,  consumer  acceptance  is  not  the  sole  pur- 
pose of  all  consumer  campaigns  for  products  sold 
thru  dealers.  Yet  it  is  sufficiently  universal  and  suf- 
ficiently important  a  purpose  to  color  almost  all  the 


240  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

modern  attempts  to  obtain  dealer  cooperation.  If  the 
dealer  is  to  do  his  part  in  inducing  consumer  accept- 
ance, he  must  have  a  degree  of  good-will  toward 
the  manufacturer  and  his  goods  which  is  very  differ- 
ent from  his  former  frequent  attitude  of  resentment 
or  indifference. 

5.  The  spirit  of  sales  cooperation. — There  are  many 
methods  of  inducing  dealers  to  push  advertised  goods. 
At  the  bottom  of  all  the  successful  ones,  however,  there 
is  one  common  characteristic.  The  manufacturer  who 
really  gets  active  good-will  is  the  one  who  convinces 
dealers  that  he  is  willing  to  help  them  if  they  will  help 
him.  He  shows  that  the  things  he  asks  the  dealer 
to  do  are  calculated  to  help  the  dealer  at  least  as  much 
as  they  help  the  manufacturer;  and,  in  the  most  suc- 
cessful campaigns,  service  to  dealers  greatly  over- 
shadows the  manufacturer's  desire  to  increase  imme- 
diately the  sale  of  his  goods.  Of  course,  whenever  a 
manufacturer  really  helps  a  dealer,  he  creates  good- 
will that  is  bound  to  result  in  his  favor,  and,  if  the 
help  takes  the  form  of  education  in  better  business 
methods,  those  methods  will  help  the  manufacturer 
just  as  much  as  they  will  help  the  dealer. 

6.  Influence  of  quality  of  goods. — The  manufac- 
turer who  wants  dealer  cooperation  must  first  see  to 
it  that  the  quality  of  his  goods  is  such  that  the  retailer 
will  recognize  it  and  the  retailer's  customers  will  be 
satisfied  with  their  purchases.  The  retailer  wants 
permanent  trade ;  he  can  get  it  only  when  his  custom- 
ers are  pleased  with  their  purchases  and  come  back 


CAMPAIGNS  FOR  DEALER  COOPERATION      241 

for  more.     Therefore,  the  first  thing  the  dealer  looks 
for  is  quality. 

7.  Profit  as  an  inducement  to  cooperate. — After 
quality,  the  dealer  wants  profit.  The  price  he  pays 
for  goods  and  the  price  at  which  he  can  sell  them  must 
be  far  enough  apart  to  cover  all  his  expenses  of  doing 
business  and  to  leave  him  a  satisfactory  profit  besides. 
Many  advertising  campaigns  have  failed  because  the 
item  of  profit  was  overlooked  or  because  the  margin 
allowed  was  too  small.  No  matter  how  much  a  manu- 
facturer tries  to  help  dealers  to  sell  his  goods,  no  mat- 
ter how  effective  his  advertising,  no  matter  how  much 
quality  he  puts  into  the  line,  if  the  profit  is  not  right 
the  dealer  will  not  cooperate. 

8.  Importance  of  quick  stock  turnovers. — After 
quality  and  profit,  the  dealer  wants  to  be  assured  re- 
garding the  ease  with  which  the  goods  will  sell.  Mod- 
ern merchandising  requires  small  stocks  and  quick 
turnovers.  Besides  putting  quality  into  his  goods 
and  selling  them  at  the  right  price,  the  manufacturer 
can  help  the  dealer  to  achieve  quick  turnovers  in  two 
ways :  First,  he  can  adopt  some  selling  plan  that  will 
make  complete  stocks  of  his  goods  easily  accessible  to 
dealers,  so  they  can  order  frequently  and  in  small 
quantities.  Second,  he  can  help  the  dealer  to  move 
the  goods  off  his  shelves.  In  achieving  this  second 
purpose  advertising  plays  a  large  part.  Various 
methods  of  inducing  dealer  cooperation  by  means  of 
advertising  are  described  in  the  following  pages. 

9.  Educating  the  dealer  and  his  sales  people. — 


242  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

One  of  the  best  ways  of  arousing  the  interest  of  deal- 
ers is  to  teach  them  the  points  of  interest  about  the 
things  they  sell.  A  carpet  manufacturer  sent  to  all 
his  dealers  and  their  sales  people  a  booklet  entitled, 
"What  I  Learned  About  Carpets."  It  told  in  a 
lively  way  the  experiences  of  a  retail  salesman  who 
visited  a  carpet  factory  for  the  first  time.  Certainly 
the  retailer  who  read  this  story  could  sell  carpets  more 
intelligently  than  he  could  before,  and  he  would  feel 
a  real  interest  in  the  manufacturer  who  had  helped 
him  learn  more  about  his  goods.  Many  manufactur- 
ers go  to  great  lengths  to  interest  dealers  in  their 
lines  by  teaching  them  the  selling  points.  Moving 
pictures  of  manufacturing  processes  are  displayed  be- 
fore groups  of  store  employes;  booklets  are  distrib- 
uted; traveling  exhibits  are  routed  from  store  to 
store;  salesmen  give  lectures  to  buyers  and  sales  peo- 
ple ;  and  many  similar  methods  are  used  to  obtain  co- 
operation by  arousing  interest. 

A  new  kind  of  education  for  retailers  has  for  its  pur- 
pose, not  primarily  increased  sales  of  any  given  manu- 
facturer's goods,  but,  rather,  increased  sales  and  in- 
creased profits  for  the  dealer  in  his  business  as  a  whole. 
The  Printz-Biederman  Company,  manufacturers  of 
women's  garments,  formerly  provided  a  correspond- 
ence course  in  retail  selling  for  the  employes  of  the 
suit  and  cloak  departments  of  its  dealers.  The  course 
was  a  broad  one ;  it  taught  the  best  methods  of  selling 
women's  garments  in  general,  and  referred  only  inci- 
dentally to  the  product  of  the  company  that  prepared 


CAMPAIGNS  FOR  DEALER  COOPERATION     243 

the  course.  A  manufacturer  of  sad-irons  for  a  time 
distributed  a  correspondence  course  in  advertising  for 
the  retail  dealer,  covering  everything  from  study  of 
the  market  to  copy-writing,  methods  of  display  and 
the  selection  of  media.  The  manufacturer  of  Inger- 
soll  watches  prepared,  and  distributed  free  to  his  deal- 
ers, a  complete  system  of  cost  accounting  for  jewelry 
stores.  Broad-minded,  unselfish  educational  efforts 
of  this  sort  represent  a  long  step  in  advertising  from 
the  days  when  "Force  the  dealer"  was  the  slogan. 
They  promise  much  for  the  future  of  dealer-manu- 
facturer relations. 

10.  Campaigns  to  increase  the  sales  of  related  prod- 
ucts.— Strategy'  in  advertising  is  expressed  in  a  variety 
of  ways.  The  advertiser  who  offers  a  free  course  in 
accounting  for  his  dealers  is  a  strategist  of  the  first 
order.  His  final,  and  legitimately  selfish,  purpose 
is  entirely  overshadowed  by  an  unselfish  desire  to  be 
of  real  service  to  his  distributers.  In  the  same  class 
is  the  manufacturer  of  one  product  who  advertises 
another  for  the  benefit  of  his  dealers.  They  both 
carry  a  principle  of  broad-minded  American  life,  that 
of  mutual  helpfulness,  into  business  relations.  They 
both  prove  the  growing  realization  in  business  of  the 
old  truth  that  the  one  who  profits  most  is  the  one  who 
serves  most. 

The  Bemis  Bag  Company  manufactures  contain- 
ers for  flour.  Yet  it  does  not  advertise  bags.  Just 
before  the  Food  Administration  introduced  "wheat- 
less  days"  it  was  advertising  to  increase  the  consump- 


244  ADVERTISING    CAMPAIGNS 

tion  of  flour,  because  its  business  can  increase  only  as 
the  business  of  the  millers  of  the  country  increases. 
The  Bemis  Company  published  advertisements  in  the 
leading  magazines  and  newspapers  showing  the  nutri- 
ment in  white  flour,  and  urged  housewives  to  make 
more  liberal  use  of  it.  The  object  of  the  campaign 
was  twofold.  First,  the  obvious  object  is  to  increase 
the  consumption  of  white  flour,  if  that  is  possible. 
But  the  other  object,  and  the  one  which  was  undoubt- 
edly a  great  deal  more  definitely  realized,  was  to  get 
the  good-will  of  millers.  The  miller  feels  that  the 
manufacturer  is  attempting  to  render  him  a  real  ser- 
vice. The  manufacturer  does  not  come  to  the  miller 
saying,  "I  want  your  bag  business."  He  says,  "I'm 
going  to  do  everything  I  can  to  increase  your  flour 
business.  Then  you  will  have  to  use  more  bags.  If 
you  buy  them  from  me,  I  shall  appreciate  it.  I  expect 
to  succeed  only  by  assisting  you  to  success." 

Thru  advertising,  the  business  men  of  the  country 
in  all  lines,  whether  they  are  retailers,  jobbers  or 
manufacturers,  are  coming  to  understand  one  another 
better,  and  to  know  the  real  meaning  of  cooperation 
and  service. 

11.  Three  hinds  of  "dealer  helps/' — The  forms  of 
advertising  most  generally  used  by  a  manufacturer 
in  his  effort  to  gain  dealer  cooperation  are  those  that 
help  the  dealer  to  tell  the  public  about  the  manufac- 
turer's goods.  These  helps,  aside  from  the  educa- 
tional work  already  described,  are  of  three  kinds — 
store  signs,  assistance  of  various  sorts  in  the  retailer's 


CAMPAIGNS  FOR  DEALER  COOPERATION      245 

newspaper  advertising  and  assistance  in  his  direct  ad- 
vertising. 

12.  Dealers'  newspaper  advertising. — One  of  the 
first  attempts  of  manufacturers  to  obtain  dealer  co- 
operation was  by  offering  assistance  to  retailers  in 
the  preparation  of  their  newspaper  advertising.  The 
average  retailer  has  had  little  opportunity  to  study 
advertising  carefully;  or  he  is  usually  busy  with  a 
multitude  of  store  details,  and  he  thinks  he  has  not 
the  time  to  devote  to  the  writing  of  advertisements, 
even  if  he  had  the  training  to  do  so.  As  a  result  of 
these  two  conditions  much  retail  advertising  up  to 
a  few  years  ago,  particularly  in  the  smaller  commu- 
nities, was  weak  and  ineffective.  Taking  advantage 
of  this  situation,  national  advertisers  offered  to  help 
the  retailer  produce  advertisements  that  would  really 
attract  trade. 

The  first  kind  of  advertising  help  offered  to  the 
dealer  was  a  complete  advertisement  of  manufactur- 
er's goods,  electrotyped  and  ready  for  insertion  in  the 
dealer's  papers,  with  only  a  small  place  left  blank 
for  the  dealer's  name  and  address.  Complete  adver- 
tisements of  this  sort  have  been,  and  still  are,  widely 
used.  Many  manufacturers  prepare  them  and  many 
dealers  use  them.  This  advertising  is  often  better 
than  the  dealer  could  prepare  for  liimself,  and  some- 
times the  dealer  would  use  no  newspaper  advertising 
at  all  if  it  were  not  for  the  plated  advertisements  he 
receives  from  manufacturers.  To  that  extent,  the 
material  is  valuable. 


24r6  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

It  has  the  great  disadvantage,  however,  of  repre- 
senting the  manufacturer  and  his  goods  rather  than 
the  dealer  and  his  store.  An  advertisement  prepared 
for  a  thousand  stores  can  certainly  not  reflect  the 
individuality  of  any  one  of  them.  A  realization  of 
this  fact  is  inducing  many  dealers  to  refuse  to  use 
plated  advertisements  from  manufacturers,  and  it  is 
inducing  many  manufacturers  to  find  some  other 
methods  of  bringing  about  dealer  cooperation.  The 
sincere,  frank  recommendation  of  the  dealer,  no  mat- 
ter how  crudely  expressed,  is  often  worth  much  more 
to  the  readers  of  a  paper  than  even  the  strongest  ap- 
peal of  an  advertisement  obviously  written  by  a  man- 
ufacturer. 

13.  Advertisements  that  represent  the  dealer. — 
When  the  manufacturer  wishes  to  present  complete 
advertisements  to  his  distributers,  a  better  plan  than 
the  sending  of  electrotyped  advertisements  is  to  send 
sheets  of  paper  to  the  dealer,  showing  suggested  ad- 
vertisements of  the  manufacturer's  goods.  The 
dealer  can  use  the  suggested  wording  if  he  wants  to, 
or  he  can  change  it  to  suit  himself.  When  cuts  are 
used  the  dealer  can  get  them  on  request  or  for  a 
nominal  charge.  Dealers  like  this  kind  of  advertis- 
ing assistance.  The  only  objection  to  it  from  the 
manufacturer's  point  of  view  is  that  most  dealers, 
when  they  use  the  suggested  advertisements  at  all,  use 
them  without  alteration.  To  this  extent,  this  adver- 
tising is  open  to  the  same  objections  as  the  older  type 
of  plated  advertisements. 


CAMPAIGNS  FOR  DEALER  COOPERATION      247 

Complete  advertisements  furnished  to  dealers, 
either  plated  or  simply  printed  as  suggestions,  may 
deal  entirely  with  the  goods  of  the  manufacturers  sup- 
plying them,  or  they  may  contain  sales  talk  about 
other  things  in  the  dealer's  stock.  In  the  former  case, 
many  dealers  resent  the  obvious  selfishness  of  the 
manufacturer's  appeal.  They  are  much  more  likely 
to  give  their  support  to  a  manufacturer  who  helps 
them  sell  other  things  in  addition  to  his  own  product. 

Some  manufacturers  supply  dealers  with  complete 
advertisements,  but  make  no  attempt  to  prepare  stock 
advertisements.  When  a  retailer  asks  help,  his  store 
and  his  particular  problems  are  studied  by  corre- 
spondence and  thru  the  reports  of  salesmen.  As 
a  result  the  manufacturer's  advertisement  department 
is  able  to  write  advertisements  that  just  as  truly  rep- 
resent the  dealer  as  if  he  wrote  them  himself.  This 
kind  of  assistance  is  about  the  maximum  of  advertis- 
ing service  that  a  manufacturer  can  give  a  retailer  in 
his  attempt  to  obtain  cooperation.  For  many  manu- 
facturers, however,  it  is  prohibitively  expensive. 

14.  Furnishing  parts  of  advertisements. — The  ma- 
jority of  advertisers  have  abandoned  the  attempt  to 
supply  dealers  with  complete  newspaper  advertise- 
ments. A  common  practice  now  is  to  furnish  cuts 
for  illustrations  only.  The  dealer  receives  sheets 
showing  stock  cuts  illustrating  the  manufacturer's 
goods.  He  selects  what  he  wants  and  uses  them  in 
any  way  he  wants  to  in  his  advertisements.  A  com- 
mendable modification  of  this  practice  is  to  send  with 


248  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

the  book  of  cuts  suggested  sentences  or  paragraphs 
that  can  be  used  by  the  dealer  when  he  pubhshes  the 
cuts.  If  these  paragraphs  are  written  in  a  hvely 
way,  and  if  the  dealer  is  assured  that  they  are  merely 
intended  to  help  him  and  not  to  bind  him  to  any  par- 
ticular phraseology,  he  is  likely  to  use  them. 

Several  stove  manufacturers  have  made  a  practice 
of  furnishing  cuts  illustrating  almost  everything  in 
a  retail  hardware  store,  and  even  of  writing  copy  to 
go  with  the  cuts.  They  asked  nothing  for  the  serv- 
ices, merely  putting  their  own  trade-marks,  often  in 
inconspicuous  places,  on  the  cuts  or  copj^  furnished. 

Some  manufacturers  furnish  street-car  cards  and 
sheets  for  bill-posting  to  dealers  who  use  these  me- 
dia. Others  simply  make  suggestions  for  any  kind 
of  advertising  a  dealer  may  wish  to  undertake. 

15.  Assistance  in  dealers^  direct  advertising. — 
Many  retailers  find  that  direct  advertising  to  their 
customers  or  possible  customers,  either  alone  or  in 
combination  with  newspaper  and  sign  advertising,  is 
a  valuable  method  of  building  business.  They  often 
find  it  just  as  difficult  to  prepare  their  own  direct  ad- 
vertising, however,  as  to  prepare  their  newspaper  ad- 
vertisements. Accordingly,  some  manufacturers  help 
them  in  this  form  of  publicity.  The  great  clothing 
companies  send  out  style  books  to  lists  of  names  fur- 
nished them  by  their  dealers.  Each  book  carries  the 
dealer's  imprint,  and  usually  is  accompanied  by  a  let- 
ter, prepared  by  the  manufacturer,  but  signed  by  the 
dealer.     JNIodifications  of  this  plan  are  used  by  man- 


CAMPAIGNS  FOR  DEALER  COOPERATION      249 

ufacturers  in  other  lines.  Doubtless  the  plan  is  ef- 
fective, but  great  care  must  be  used  if  the  manufac- 
turer wishes  consumers  really  to  believe  that  the  di- 
rect advertising  carries  the  sincere  indorsement  of  his 
local  dealer.  A  dealer's  direct  advertising  that  is 
obviously  furnished  by  a  manufacturer  is  not  so  ef- 
fective as  that  which  carries  some  ear-marks  of  the 
dealer's  personality. 

16.  Manufacturers'  consumer  advertising. — We 
have  described  a  number  of  ways  in  which  advertis- 
ing may  be  used  by  a  manufacturer  to  induce  dealers 
to  cooperate  with  him  in  the  sale  of  his  goods.  All 
of  them  are  good  when  employed  wisely,  and  all  of 
them  are  widely  used.  But  none  of  the  special  forms 
of  inducements  to  dealers  should  blind  the  manufac- 
turer to  the  greatest  inducement  of  all — persistent, 
effective  advertising  by  the  manufacturer,  directed 
toward  the  consumer,  slowly  but  steadily  making  the 
manufacturer,  his  goods,  his  trade-mark  and  his  sell- 
ing points  known  to  the  public  and,  if  not  actually 
creating  insistent  consumer  demand,  at  least  paving 
the  way  for  ready  acceptance  of  the  manufacturer's 
product  when  any  effor.t  at  all  is  put  behind  it  by  the 
dealer.  This  form  of  advertising  assistance,  more 
than  any  other,  helps  the  dealer  to  make  sales  quickly 
and  at  little  expense,  and,  when  it  is  used  for  a  prod- 
uct that  has  quality  and  that  gives  the  dealer  a  satis- 
factory profit,  it  is  usually  successful  in  inducing  val- 
uable cooperation. 

Several  years  ago  the  Northern  Pine  Manufactur- 


250  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

ers'  Association  tried  to  overcome  the  shrinking  de- 
mand for  pine  by  advertising  to  the  trade  only.  The 
results  of  the  campaign  were  not  satisfactory,  and  the 
world  of  housebuilders  was  left  to  persist  in  its  be- 
lief that  all  the  white  pine  was  used  up,  or,  if  some 
was  left,  that  it  was  too  expensive  for  ordinary  use. 
The  Southern  Cypress  Manufacturers'  Association, 
realizing  that  "the  consumer  is  king,"  began  to  ad- 
vertise to  win  the  patronage  of  consumers.  National 
magazines  and  farm  journals  were  used  extensively. 
In  all,  an  aggregate  of  5,500,000  circulation  was  em- 
ployed in  consumer  publicity.  The  result  has  been 
a  large  increase  in  the  use  of  cypress.  The  associa- 
tion purchased  space  in  the  trade  publications,  not  so 
much  for  the  purpose  of  urging  the  trade  to  use  more 
cypress,  as  to  explain  to  the  trade  the  consumer  adver- 
tising it  was  conducting. 

This  successful  experience  of  the  Southern  Cypress 
Manufacturers'  Association  led  to  the  organization 
among  the  Northern  Pine  Manufacturers'  Associa- 
tion of  a  white  pine  bureau,  which  began  to  advertise 
the  advantages  of  white  pine  to  consumers.  The  ef- 
fort was  successful  from  the  stjart.  Dealers,  realizing 
that  the  manufacturers  were  advertising  to  increase 
their  sales,  put  forth  additional  effort,  began  to  use  the 
dealer  helps  furnished  them,  and  even  inaugurated 
campaigns  of  their  own  in  local  territories  to  counter- 
act the  impression  that  the  supply  of  white  pine  is 
exhausted,  and  to  show  the  advantages  of  white  pine 
over  other  woods. 


CAMPAIGNS  FOR  DEALER  COOPERATION      251 

Dealers'  cooperation  can  be  obtained  by  hard  work, 
fair  treatment  and  a  real  willingness  to  serve.  But 
the  dealer  does  not  ordinarily  give  full  cooperation  un- 
less the  manufacturer  does  his  part  by  advertising  to 
the  consumer. 

17.  Dealers  meet  advertisers  half-way. — The  de- 
gree of  cooperation  that  may  be  expected  from  intelli- 
gent effort  on  the  part  of  manufacturers  is  indicated 
by  the  success  of  "national  advertising  weeks,"  fos- 
tered by  some  of  the  magazines  in  cooperation  with 
manufacturers.  The  plan  is  for  the  dealers  in  a  town 
during  a  "national  advertising  week"  to  feature  na- 
tionally advertised  goods  in  their  stores,  their  win- 
dows and  their  newspaper  advertising.  During  such 
a  week  one  dealer  turned  a  whole  floor  of  his  store 
into  a  special  exhibit  of  115  booths  showing  nation- 
ally advertised  goods.  Each  booth  was  in  charge  of 
a  demonstrator.  The  manufacturers  bore  the  ex- 
pense of  decorating  and  equipping  the  booths.  In 
return,  the  dealer  spent  $10,000  of  his  own  money  in 
newspaper  advertising  and  in  furnishing  heat,  light 
and  special  sales  people.  Every  visitor  to  a  booth 
signed  a  register.  The  names  were  later  furnished 
to  the  manufacturers,  who  agreed  to  send  direct  ad- 
vertising to  these  persons.  The  results  were  satis- 
factory both  to  the  manufacturers  and  to  the  dealer. 

All  retailers  cannot  cooperate  in  this  extensive  way, 
but  most  of  them,  to  the  extent  that  their  resources 
permit,  are  willing  to  cooperate  with  manufacturers 
who  give  them  quality  and  profit,  and  who  offer  in- 


252  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

telligent  help  in  solving  the  great  problem  of  attract- 
ing and  holding  trade. 

REVIEW 

What  is  the  difference  between  "consumer  demand"  and  "con- 
sumer acceptance"? 

What  are  the  things,  apart  from  advertising,  that  tend  to  in- 
duce dealer  cooperation? 

If  you  were  a  retailer,  what  tests  would  you  apply  in  deter- 
mining the  relative  acceptability  of  the  many  things  manufactur- 
ers would  offer  to  do  for  you  to  obtain  your  cooperation? 

If  the  business  with  which  you  are  connected  sells  a  product 
or  service  thru  distributors,  how  is  their  cooperation  obtained?  . 
How  might  it  be  obtained? 

How  does  dealer  distribution  differ  from  dealer  cooperation?  , 
Can  the  same  methods  be  used  in  obtaining  both? 


CHAPTER  XVII 
MAIL-ORDER  CAMPAIGNS 

1.  Kinds  of  mail-order  campaigns. — There  are 
three  general  kinds  of  mail-order  campaigns:  (1) 
The  campaign  of  a  mail-order  specialty  house,  which 
sells  one  line  of  goods  or  service,  or  several  closely 
allied  lines,  and  which  uses  the  mails  to  make  sales 
as  part  of  the  established  house  policy.  In  this  class 
are  mail-order  distributors  of  jewelry,  furs,  clothing, 
food  products  and  thousands  of  other  things  sold 
to  consumers  by  mail.  (2)  Similar  to  the  campaign 
of  the  mail-order  specialty  house  is  that  of  a  manu- 
facturer who  introduces  his  goods  to  consumers  by 
mail,  but  who  later  expects  to  distribute  them  thru 
dealers.  (3)  The  third  kind  of  mail-order  campaign 
is  conducted  by  the  establishment  that  tries  to  sell  a 
great  variety  of  things  by  mail.  In  this  class  are  such 
mail-order  distributors  as  Sears,  Roebuck  &  Com- 
pany, Montgomer}'^  Ward  &  Company,  and  the  city 
department  stores,  not  so  many  as  formerly,  that  sell 
by  mail  as  well  as  over  the  counter. 

As  far  as  purpose  and  method  are  concerned,  the 
first  two  classes  may  be  grouped  together.  The  pur- 
pose of  both  is  to  make  sales  as  the  direct  result  of 

XIII— 18  9U 


254  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

the  advertisements.  Frequently  the  reader  is  urged 
to  send  his  money  or  to  order  at  once,  usually  with  the 
promise  that  the  money  will  be  refunded  if  the  pur- 
chase proves  unsatisfactory.  At  other  times,  peri- 
odical advertising  is  intended  only  to  arouse  interest, 
and  the  reader  is  urged  to  ask  for  further  informa- 
tion; the  sale  is  then  made  with  the  aid  of  follow-up 
letters  and  booklets.  Sometimes  both  appeals  are 
combined  in  one  advertisement:  "Send  only  $2.  Or 
ask  for  booklet." 

The  appeal  of  the  third  kind  of  mail-order  cam- 
paign is  different  from  that  of  the  other  two.  The 
house  that  sells  many  different  kinds  of  things  by 
mail  usually  advertises  in  periodicals  chiefly  for  the 
purpose  of  getting  a  list  of  names  of  people  to  whom 
a  catalog  may  be  sent.  The  catalog  of  such  houses 
is  relied  on  to  make  the  sales.  A  few  direct  orders 
may  come  as  a  result  of  periodical  advertisements 
that  feature  particular  things,  but,  in  general,  the 
periodical  advertising  is  intended  to  distribute  cata- 
logs rather  than  to  make  immediate  sales. 

We  have  divided  mail-order  campaigns  into  three 
groups  on  the  basis  of  the  differences  of  appeal  and 
method.  Still  another  classification  might  be  made. 
Some  mail-order  campaigns  are  directed  to  consum- 
ers; others  are  directed  to  dealers.  Butler  Brothers 
and  the  Baltimore  Bargain  House  are  examples  of 
wholesale  houses  selling  by  mail  to  dealers.  We  are 
to  consider  chiefly  mail-order  campaigns  of  those  who 
sell  to  consumers;  the  methods  of  such  campaigns 


MAIL-ORDER  CAMPAIGNS  255 

differ  but  slightly  from  the  methods  of  selling  by  mail 
to  dealers. 

2.  The  mail-order  specialty  advertiser. — One  has 
only  to  open  any  magazine  of  general  circulation  to 
find  offers  by  mail-order  specialty  houses  represent- 
ing nearly  every  class  of  human  wants,  including 
cigars,  lessons  in  nursing,  apples,  furnaces,  books  and 
even  automobiles. 

Canned  fish  does  not  sound  like  a  highly  promising 
mail-order  proposition,  but  the  Frank  E.  Davis  Com- 
pany of  Gloucester,  ^Massachusetts,  has  made  a  suc- 
cess in  this  rather  unpromising  field  by  advertising  its 
products  at  first  in  the  general  magazines  and  more 
recently  also  in  a  considerable  number  of  newspapers. 
The  president  is  thus  quoted  in  a  newspaper  advertise- 
ment: 

Buying  fish  by  mail  is  simply  the  working  out  of  the  old 
principle  that  "a  straight  line  is  the  shortest  distance  be- 
tween two  points."  And  in  this  case  the  "straight-line** 
way — the  direct  way — is  the  easy,  safe  and  satisfactory  way. 
Ever  since  that  day  back  in  the  early  eighties,  when  I  sent 
out  my  first  pail  of  mackerel,  I've  kept  this  one  thought 
firmly  in  mind:  "My  fish  must  always  be  better  than  folks 
can  buy  in  their  local  stores  or  I  can't  hope  to  sell  it."  The 
fish  which  your  dealer  offers  is  simply  what  he  can  buy  from 
the  middleman.  He  is  too  far  from  the  source  of  supply  to 
obtain  selected  grades  of  fish.  I  am  right  on  the  ground — 
I  get  the  first  choice  of  the  best  catches — clean  and  pack 
everytliing,  fresli  from  the  ocean  in  the  most  sanitary  and 
best  equipped  buildings  possible  to  construct.     Then  it  is 


256  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

shipped  direct  to  you.  No  matter  where  you  live,  you  can 
have  from  me,  for  your  home  table,  just  as  good  fish  as  we 
folks  here  on  the  sea  can  enjoy. 

It  is  generally  agreed  that  there  are  many  articles 
that  cannot  be  sold  profitably  by  mail,  and  moreover, 
the  cost  of  making  mail  sales  seems  to  be  steadily  rising. 

3.  Requirements  of  mail-order  specialty  house. — 
As  has  been  said  already,  not  everything  can  be  sold 
profitably  by  mail.  In  considering  the  advisability 
of  launching  a  mail-order  specialty  business  one  of 
the  first  questions  to  be  asked  is,  "Are  my  possible  cus- 
tomers near  enough  to  me  so  that  the  transportation 
charges  on  the  smallest  unit  will  not  materially  affect 
my  price  in  competition?" 

When  the  parcel  post  was  established,  many  new 
opportunities  were  opened  for  mail-order  specialty 
houses.  The  specialty  shoe  house  is  an  example. 
By  shipping  by  parcel  post,  one  mail-order  shoe 
house  found  its  average  cost  of  transportation  was 
eleven  cents  a  pair,  against  a  previous  charge  of 
thirty  cents.  The  difference  allowed  a  good  profit 
and  induced  many  concerns  to  go  into  the  business. 
While  some  advertised  in  the  farm  journals,  most  of 
them  bought  special  lists  of  names  and  then  advertised 
directly  with  catalogs  and  letters. 

The  matter  of  transportation  cost,  however,  is  only 
one  of  the  many  expenses  to  be  considered  in  selling 
by  mail.  Most  things  can  be  sold  by  mail  if  enough 
money  is  spent  in  the  process.  The  great  problem 
of  the  prospective  mail-order  advertiser  is:     "Is  there 


MAIL-ORDER  CAMPAIGNS  25T 

a  sufficient  margin  between  the  cost  to  manufacture 
and  the  price  at  which  I  can  sell  my  goods  by  mail  to 
pay  all  the  expenses  of  this  kind  of  selling  and  still 
leave  me  a  profit?"  Many  mail-order  campaigns 
have  failed  because  this  question  has  not  been  prop- 
erly considered  in  advance.  A  manufacturer  once  at- 
tempted to  sell  a  talking  machine  attachment  by  mail 
for  one  dollar.  His  manufacturing  cost  was  less  than 
fifty  cents,  and  he  assumed  that  the  difference  be- 
twen  cost  and  selling  price  was  ample  to  cover  all 
expenses,  and  leave  him  a  good  profit  besides.  He 
found  that  it  actualh'  cost  seventy  cents  to  make  each 
sale ;  he  was  losing  twenty  cents  on  every  article  sold. 

4.  Influence  of  style  centers. — One  of  the  reasons 
why  people  buy  wearing  apparel  by  mail  is  that  they 
feel  they  get  better  styles  when  they  buy,  sometimes 
from  distant  firms,  thru  the  mails  than  when  they  buy 
in  their  own  communities.  Because  New  York  is 
supposed  to  originate,  or  to  be  the  first  to  import, 
styles  in  women's  clothing,  such  mail-order  houses  as 
the  National  Cloak  and  Suit  Company  and  Bellas, 
Hess  Company  do  a  large  business  with  women  all 
over  the  United  States.  The  desire  to  buy  in  the 
style  centers  is  responsible  for  much  mail-order  buy- 
ing. 

Within  ten  years  one  New  York  mail-order  house 
lias  built  up  an  exclusive  ladies'  ready-to-wear  mail- 
order business  with  2,500,000  customers,  and  is  spend- 
ing over  $2,000,000  a  year  on  catalogs  and  otlier  ad- 
vertising.    This  company  issues  five  catalogs — a  large 


258  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

one  for  spring  and  summer,  another  large  one  for 
fall  and  winter,  and  three  smaller  catalogs  for  special 
lines.  The  large  books  go  out  in  editions  of  2,500,000, 
and  cost  $750,000  for  each  of  the  two  seasons.  Five 
to  ten  j)er  cent  of  the  mailing  list  "dies"  every  j^ear. 

As  is  usually  the  case  with  those  who  sell  by  mail, 
this  company  gives  an  absolute  guarantee  of  satisfac- 
tion or  money  refunded.  Only  one  garment  in  fifty 
is  returned  for  alteration  or  exchange.  The  a\*erage 
order  is  for  about  six  dollars'  worth  of  goods. 

Style  is  the  first  consideration,  and  the  business 
is  built  on  this  principle.  Magazine  advertisements 
offer  "leaders"  at  attractive  prices  in  an  effort  to  get 
orders  for  the  leaders,  and  thus  to  establish  trade  re- 
lations. After  this  relation  has  once  been  established, 
catalogs  are  sent  to  the  customers  each  season.  If  a 
customer  has  not  ordered  for  two  seasons,  it  is  cus- 
tomary to  drop  her  name  from  the  list. 

5.  Costs  of  mail-order  specialty  advertising. — 
There  is  no  other  kind  of  business  in  which  returns 
from  advertising  can  be  so  accurately  checked  as  in 
the  business  of  the  mail-order  advertiser.  By  care- 
ful tests  he  can  find  out  exactly  the  particular  size 
of  space  he  can  most  profitably  use  and  the  particular 
appeal  and  wording  of  the  copy  that  brings  the  great- 
est returns.  Different  sizes  of  space  are  experi- 
mented with,  and  the  cost  per  inquiry  and  the  cost 
per  sale  are  carefully  tabulated  for  each  size.  The 
space  that  results  in  the  most  profitable  proportion 
between  cost  and  returns  is  then  adopted  as  the  stand- 


MAIL-ORDER  CAMPAIGNS  269 

ard.  Every  word  in  the  copy  is  carefully  scrutinized. 
The  change  of  a  single  word  may  mean  the  differ- 
ence between  profit  and  loss.  When  the  advertiser 
lias  once  found  a  piece  of  copy  that  results  in  maxi- 
mum sales,  he  often  uses  the  copy  unchanged  as  long 
as  it  continues  to  "pull"  satisfactorily. 

]Many  mail-order  specialty  houses  use  only  one- 
inch  advertisements.  Others  use  profitably  still 
smaller  space.  A  canoe  manufacturer  selling  by 
mail  has  for  several  years  confined  his  magazine  copy 
to  half-inch  advertisements,  finding  that  whenever 
the  space  was  increased  there  was  no  profit  in  the 
business. 

6.  Using  records  in  choosing  media. — Not  only  can 
size  of  space  and  kind  of  copy  be  standardized;  the 
media  used  can  also  be  chosen,  by  tests,  with  absolute 
knowledge  of  their  comparative  usefulness  to  the  ad- 
vertiser. Those  media  that  bring  returns  at  a  cost 
below  the  maximum  set  by  the  advertiser  are  continued 
on  the  list;  all  others  are  dropped. 

The  method  of  testing  media  is  illustrated  by  the 
records  of  a  magazine  that  conducted  a  subscription 
campaign  by  means  of  advertisements  in  a  long  list 
of  magazines  and  newspapers.  The  size  of  space 
varied  somewhat  in  diff'erent  media,  but  both  the  size 
of  space  and  the  copy  were  sufficiently  uniform  to 
permit  a  fair  comparison  among  the  different  media 
on  the  basis  of  the  actual  results  recorded  from  the 
advertising  in  each  one.  Some  of  the  tabulated  re- 
sults were  as  follows.     Names  of  publications  are  not 


Magazine    A 

$40 

Magazine    A 

40 

Magazine    B 

250 

Magazine    B 

250 

Magazine    C 

37 

Magazine    D 

200 

Newspaper  A 

12 

Newspaper  B 

90 

260  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

used  because  it  would  not  be  fair  to  the  media  to  show 
actual  results  unless  all  the  many  conditions  surround- 
ing the  campaign  were  likewise  stated.  Some  of  the 
media  were  used  more  than  once. 

Cost  of  the            Number  of  Cost  per 
advertisement    subscriptions  sold    subscription 

51  $0.79 

20  2.00 

338  .72 

181  1.38 

47  .80 

234  .85 

17  .71 

258  .35 

When  records  of  this  sort  are  continued  over  a  long 
enough  time  and  the  results  of  various  insertions  in 
the  same  magazine  are  averaged  and  compared  with 
other  average  returns  from  other  media,  the  adver- 
tiser can  definitely  pick  those  publications  that,  for  his 
particular  purpose,  bring  the  most  results  for  the  least 
money. 

7.  Difficulties  of  specialty  mail-order  selling. — 
Women  are  said  to  be  better  mail-order  buyers  than 
men.  There  is  a  variety  of  suggested  reasons: 
Some  people  contend  that  women  read  advertisements 
more  carefully  than  men — that  careful  perusal  of 
an  advertisement  is  essential  before  an  order  will  be 
sent  by  mail,  and  that  men  have  less  time  to  read  care- 
fully. Others  say  that  men  are  less  inclined  than 
women  to  ask  for  their  money  back  when  they  are 
dissatisfied  with  a  purchase.     When  a  guarantee  of 


M.\IL-ORDER  CAJSIPAIGNS  261 

"satisfaction  or  your  money  back"  is  made,  a  woman 
will  ordinarily  act  on  it  if  she  is  itot  satisfied,  but 
many  men  will  pocket  their  loss  and  give  the  seller 
no  opportunity  to  remedy  the  trouble.  Many  men, 
therefore,  rather  than  risk  loss,  refrain  from  buying 
by  mail  even  when  the  advertiser  makes  a  plain  offer 
of  money  back  in  case  of  dissatisfaction.  Other  rea- 
sons also  are  advanced,  but,  whatever  the  reason,  the 
seller  of  goods  to  men  by  mail  usually  has  a  rather 
difficult  task. 

The  many  attempts  to  sell  cigars  by  mail  have 
proved  the  necessity  of  great  attention  to  details  in 
trying  to  get  mail  orders  from  men.  One  cigar  man- 
ufacturer offered  "Genuine  Havana  Seconds"  at 
$1.90  a  box  as  a  mail-order  leader.  With  the  goods 
was  sent  an  attractive  catalog  illustrating  forty  other 
kinds  of  cigars.  It  was  expected  that  the  real  profit 
would  come  from  orders  for  higher-priced  cigars  from 
men  who  originally  bought  the  "Havana  Seconds." 
It  was  found,  however,  that  there  were  only  twenty- 
five  per  cent  of  reorders,  and  that  many  of  them 
were  for  the  "Havana  Seconds"  rather  than  for 
higher-priced  goods.  Also,  the  manufacturer  gi-adu- 
ally  was  made  to  believe  that  many  original  pur- 
chasers did  not  like  the  "Havana  Seconds,"  and  that, 
despite  the  absolute  offer  of  ."money  back  if  not  sat- 
isfactory," they  neither  reordered  nor  gave  the  man- 
ufacturer a  cliance  to  "make  good."  There  seemed 
to  be  an  inlierent  weakness  somewhere  in  the  selling 
plan.     The  ])r()blcni  was  threefold: 


262  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

1.  To  devise  a  plan  which,  without  increasing  the 
size  of  the  advertisements,  would  increase  the  per- 
centage of  first  orders. 

2.  To  increase  the  proportion  of  reorders. 

3.  To  increase  the  orders  for  higher-priced  cigars 
than  the  "Havana  Seconds." 

The  first  purpose  was  realized  by  a  radical  change 
in  the  copy ;  it  was  given  much  greater  attention  value 
and  told  the  story  almost  at  a  glance.  The  second 
and  third  purposes  were  achieved  by  a  new  offer: 
"To  each  purchaser  of  100  Havana  Seconds  we  will 
extend  the  privilege  of  ordering,  for  60  cents  addi- 
tional, one  of  our  Sample  Cases  containing  one  sam- 
ple cigar  each  of  our  12  Best  Sellers — all  Bargain 
Values — price  up  to  $12  per  100.  Include  this  in 
your  order — it's  the  biggest  sample  value  we  ever 
offered." 

The  sixty  cents  really  paid  the  wholesale  cost  of 
the  box  of  samples,  so  there  was  no  actual  loss  on  the 
transaction.  The  seeming  attractiveness  of  the  offer 
induced  a  large  increase  in  orders,  each  one  of  which 
paid  for  itself  no  matter  whether  tliere  were  reorders 
or  not;  and  there  was  a  considerable  increase  in  the 
percentage  of  reorders,  most  of  them  being  for  the 
higher  priced  cigars  which  were  sent  in  the  sample 
box. 

8.  Selling  by  mail  to  get  distribution. — When  a 
manufacturer  attempts  to  induce  dealers  to  handle 
his  goods  he  is  often  met  with  the  statement:  "We 
will  handle  your  goods  if  you  will  first  create  a  de- 


MAIL-ORDER  CAMPAIGNS  263 

inand  for  them."  To  meet  this  situation,  a  manufac- 
turer may  decide  to  sell  direct  to  consumers  by  mail. 
Then,  when  he  can  show  a  certain  number  of  people 
nho  are  regular  users  of  his  goods,  dealers  are  or- 
dinarily glad  to  handle  them.  That  it  is  possible  to 
create  a  demand  thru  the  mails,  and  later  to  turn 
the  business  into  dealer  channels,  is  evidenced  by 
the  experience  of  the  Lindstrom-Smith  Company,  of 
Chicago,  manufacturers  of  vibrators  and  other  elec- 
trical appliances. 

I  sold  by  mail-order  exclusively  until  some  years  ago,  when 
the  expressed  interest  of  the  dealers  became  so  strong  that 
I  decided  to  go  after  the  dealer  business  in  a  whole-hearted 
fasliion.  Contrary'  to  the  expectation  of  some  of  my  friends, 
the  ratio  between  mail-order  and  dealer  sales  in  my  business 
during  four  years  was  as  follows: 

Dealer  M  ail-Order 

1st  year                        25%  15% 

2nd     '*                           507o  00% 

3rd     "                          70%  30% 

4th     '*                          80%  20% 

Yet  my  mail-order  business  increased  absolutely  at  a 
greater  rate  each  succeeding  year,  altho  we  refer  mail-order 
inquiries  to  dealers  when  there  is  a  dealer  in  the  prospect's 
locality.  The  reason  for  this,  I  think,  lies  largely  in  the  atti- 
tude we  take  toward  the  dealer.  We  sincerely  believe  that 
our  mail-order  methods  are  the  best,  if  not  tlie  only  possible 
means  of  "sampling"  the  country  for  the  dealer's  benefit. 

Some  manufacturers  attempt  to  obtain  dealer  dis- 
tribution and  to  do  a  mail-order  business  at  the  same 
time.  Dealers  in  most  cases  do  not  like  this.  If  a 
manufacturer  who  has  a  dealer  in  a  community  tries 


264  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

to  induce  him  to  push  sales  of  the  manufacturer's 
goods,  and  yet  accepts  direct  mail  orders  from  con- 
sumers in  that  community,  the  dealer  is  not  to  be 
blamed  if  he  is  not  enthusiastic  about  the  manufac- 
turer and  his  product.  There  are  two  accepted  meth- 
ods of  overcoming  this  difficulty.  The  more  common 
is  for  a  manufacturer  who  receives  mail  orders  to  fill 
direct  orders  from  communities  in  which  he  has  no 
dealers,  to  turn  over  to  his  retailers  mail  orders  that 
come  from  territories  in  which  there  is  a  distributor. 
The  other  method  is  for  the  manufacturer  to  fill  mail 
orders  direct,  but  to  give  dealers  their  profits  on  busi- 
ness from  their  communities,  even  when  the  manu- 
facturer fills  the  order  himself.  A  dealer  who  re- 
ceives a  check  for  a  transaction  in  which  he  has  had 
no  part  is  inclined  to  feel  that  he  is  overlooking  a 
profit  by  not  handling  the  manufacturer's  line,  and  he 
is  likely  to  be  entirely  willing  to  cooperate  with  a 
man  who  treats  the  trade  so  fairly. 

9.  Department  store  mail-order  campaigns. — As 
methods  of  transportation  are  improved  and  as  the 
people  of  any  trade  territory  gain  confidence  in  the 
department  stores  in  the  large  cities,  these  establish- 
ments find  themselves  more  and  more  forced  to  in- 
stal  mail-order  departments.  Many  of  them  do  not 
carry  on  extensive  mail-order  campaigns ;  they  accept 
such  mail  orders  as  come  to  them,  but  do  not  go  out 
actively  after  mail-order  business.  Others  use  differ- 
ent kinds  of  direct  advertising,  and  some  advertise  for 
mail  orders  in  periodicals.     A  common  method  is  to 


MAIL-ORDER  CAMPAIGNS  266 

depend  on  the  suburban  circulation  of  newspapers  to 
bring  in  orders  by  mail  as  a  result  of  the  regular  news- 
paper advertisements. 

There  is  difference  of  opinion  as  to  whether  a  de- 
partment store  should  publish  regular  mail-order  cata- 
logs. 

There  are  only  a  few  department  stores  that  try  to 
do  business  by  mail  over  large  sections  of  the  country. 
The  regular  department  store  buyers  are  often  not 
competent  to  judge  the  requirements  of  the  country 
trade,  and,  unless  a  special  mail-order  stock  is  main- 
tained separate  from  the  stock  for  the  store,  many 
items  listed  in  a  catalog  are  likely  to  be  sold  out  be- 
fore mail-order  customers  order  them.  Perhaps  the 
most  general  practice  among  progressive  department 
stores  is  not  to  carry  a  separate  mail-order  stock,  nor 
to  issue  complete  mail-order  catalogs,  but,  instead, 
to  issue  frequent  small  bulletins  of  regular  current 
store  offerings,  all  of  them  subject  to  prior  sale;  or 
to  encourage  mail  orders  in  newspaper  copy,  and  then 
to  !)uild  up  mail-order  trade  by  careful  attention  to 
orders  when  they  are  received. 

10.  General  mail-order  distributors. — The  cam- 
paigns of  t!ie  great  mail-order  houses  that  sell  almost 
numberless  things  over  wide  sections  of  the  countrv 
are  too  well  known  to  need  much  description.  Most 
of  these  houses  use  periodicals,  reaching  people  more 
or  less  distant  from  large  and  well-stocked  stores, 
chiefly  for  the  purposes  of  getting  the  names  of  people 
to  whom  complete  catalogs  may  be  sent.     Tlien  these 


266  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

names  are  followed  up  with  a  great  variety  of  at- 
tractive direct  advertising  matter  until  the  prospect 
has  become  a  regular  customer  or  until  his  case  has 
proved  hopeless.  As  was  shown  in  a  previous  chap- 
ter, some  of  the  mail-order  houses  have  grown  to  such 
tremendous  proportions  that  there  are  few  periodicals 
they  can  profitably  use  to  add  more  names  to  their 
lists. 

11.  31  ail-order  successes  and  failures. — The  public 
is  inclined  to  believe  that  selling  by  mail  is  easy  and 
that  there  is  little  expense  or  risk  in  it.  As  a  matter 
of  fact  the  number  of  mail-order  failures  probably 
greatly  exceeds  the  number  of  successes.  People  are 
so  familiar  with  the  large  volume  of  business  done 
by  a  few  of  the  better  known  mail-order  establish- 
ments, that  many  are  tempted  to  go  into  the  mailr 
order  business  for  themselves,  without  adequate 
capital  and  without  the  careful  preliminary  study 
which  such  a  business  requires.  In  no  line  of  selling 
activity  is  it  possible  to  be  successful  without  in- 
tensive investigation  of  the  things  to  be  sold,  the 
people  to  be  reached,  the  methods  of  reaching  them 
and,  above  all,  the  probable  costs  of  conducting  the 
enterprise.  All  these  things  are  particularly  neces- 
sary in  undertaking  a  mail-order  business.  Cost  of 
doing:  business  is  the  rock  on  which  manv  such  busi- 
nesses  have  been  wrecked.  But  if  the  risks  are  great, 
the  opportunities  are  equally  large.  Hundreds  of 
business  houses,  now  finding  a  limited  market  for  their 
goods,  can,  with  proper  preparation,  greatly  enlarge 


MAIL-ORDER  CAMPAIGNS  267 

their  field  and  their  sales  by  cultivating  the  trade 
wliich  in  many  cases  can  be  quickly,  safely  and  profit- 
ably reached  thru  the  mails. 

REVIEW 

Could  a  ten-cent  loaf  of  bread  be  sold  profitably  by  mail?  A 
fifty -cent  book?  A  dollar  razor?  What  considerations  deter- 
mine the  answer  to  this  question? 

How  do  the  three  kinds  of  mail-order  advertising  campaigns 
differ  in  purpose  and  method? 

Do  you  buy  by  mail?  If  so,  what  sort  of  things?  What  mail- 
order advertising  appeals  influence  you?  Could  you  use  these 
same  appeals  in  advertising  to  others? 

Have  you  studied  the  possibility  of  using  the  mails  to  in- 
crease the  sales  of  the  business  with  which  you  are  connected? 
Have  you  looked  thoroly  into  the  matter  of  costs,  competition, 
number  of  possible  purchasers,  methods  of  reaching  them,  etc.? 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

PUBLIC  SENTIMENT  CAMPAIGNS 

1.  A  new  use  of  advertising. — Advertising  to 
mold  public  sentiment  is  new.  Only  recently  has  the 
world  begun  to  understand  the  great  power  of  adver- 
tising to  accomplish  things  entirely  outside  the  field 
of  commerce.  The  public  service  corporation,  the 
political  party  and  even  the  government  are  gradu- 
ally coming  to  realize  that  advertising  may  be  per- 
fectly dignified,  that  people  are  influenced  by  adver- 
tising, and  that,  if  a  cause  is  just,  a  straightforward 
statement  over  the  signature  of  a  responsible  indi- 
vidual or  company  will  more  quickly  change  public 
sentiment  than  any  other  known  means. 

The  most  important  requisite  for  such  advertising 
is  the  same  as  the  essential  requisite  of  commercial 
advertising — there  must  be  quality  in  the  article  ad- 
vertised. The  cause  of  the  advertiser  must  be  just. 
Advertising  will  only  accelerate  the  failure  of  an 
organization  if  its  product  does  not  have  quality;  and 
advertising  to  create  a  certain  public  sentiment  will 
only  injure  the  advertiser  if  the  judgment  of  the 
masses  considers  his  cause  unjust. 

2.  The  campaign  versus  the  press  agent. — Before 
the  days  of  the  public  sentiment  campaign,  the  press 

2GS 


PUBLIC  SENTIMENT  CAMPAIGNS  269 

agent  often  was  used  to  get  free  publicity.  The  de- 
sire of  corporations,  individuals,  cities  and  political 
parties  to  mold  public  opinion  is  nothing  new.  Only 
the  methods  are  new.  Formerly  it  seemed  to  be  the 
general  opinion  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the  newspapers 
to  give  free  publicity  on  any  subject  that  had  even 
the  slightest  claim  to  public  interest.  If  a  retail 
dealer  bought  a  new  counter,  the  local  paper  must 
mention  it  in  its  news  columns.  If  the  charity  or- 
ganization wanted  funds,  a  carefully  planned  ad- 
vertising campaign  in  space  bought  and  not  begged, 
was  seldom  thought  of.  If  a  railroad  had  anything 
to  say  to  the  public,  as  a  matter  of  course  it  told  the 
editor  to  say  it — and  the  editor  usually  did.  At  one 
time  the  use  of  brick  as  a  building  material  was 
largely  increased  by  a  press  agent  campaign;  news- 
papers were  flooded  with  stories  about  the  great  loss 
to  the  country  occasioned  by  the  burning  of  frame 
structures.  Hundreds  of  different  kinds  of  busi- 
nesses have  sought  to  wheedle  editors  into  telling  their 
story,  instead  of  buying  space  in  the  paper  to  tell  it. 
The  press  agent  still  survives.  Organized  baseball 
and  theaters  still  get  tremendous  amounts  of  free 
publicity.  Automobiles  are  still  "press  agented"  to 
some  extent.  There  is  scarcely  a  day  that  even  the 
least  influential  editor  is  not  urged  to  lend  his  news 
and  editorial  colunms  to  the  furthering  of  some  pri- 
vate interest  or  some  public  interest  backed  by  an 
active  organization.  The  press  agent  still  has  his 
place;  and  certainly  the  newspapers  and  magazines 

XIII— 1S» 


270  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

will  always  devote  much  space  to  worthy  causes  and 
to  matters  of  real  public  interest.  But  the  editor  is 
getting  wary.  The  individual  or  the  corporation  with 
an  axe  to  grind  is  no  longer  made  at  home  in  the 
offices  of  publications. 

Then,  too,  people  who  wish  to  influence  public 
opinion  are  beginning  to  realize  that  a  well-displayed 
advertisement  is  likely  to  be  seen  and  read  by  more 
people  than  the  same  story  told  in  the  news  colunms. 
It  is  this  realization  that  has  had  most  to  do  with  the 
decreasing  importance  of  the  press  agent  and  the  in- 
creasing number  and  importance  of  real  advertising 
campaigns  designed  to  sell  ideas  instead  of  goods. 
When  carefully  planned  advertising  campaigns  are 
paid  for  and  carried  on  successfully  for  such  move- 
ments as  those  represented  by  the  National  Security 
League  and  the  Belgian  Relief  Committee,  no  one 
need  hesitate  to  use  advertising  to  accomplish  any 
worthy  purpose  that  depends  for  its  success  on  the 
acceptance  of  an  idea  by  the  multitude. 

3.  Political  advertising  campaigns. — The  Lincoln 
and  Douglas  debates  in  1860  marked  the  end  of  the 
period  when  politicians  relied  chiefly  on  the  human 
voice  to  sway  public  sentiment.  Then  came  the  era 
of  free  publicity.  It  is  not  yet  at  an  end,  but  it  is 
drawing  to  a  close.  Mark  Hanna  is  said  to  have  been 
the  first  political  leader  to  buy  advertising  space  for 
use  in  a  presidential  campaign.  Since  that  time  paid 
political  advertising  has  greatly  increased,  until  in  the 
presidential  campaign  of  1920,  it  played  an  exceed- 


PUBLIC  SENTIMENT  CAMPAIGNS  271 

inorly  important  part  in  the  activities  of  both  the  great 
jjurties. 

Reliance  on  free  publicity  in  a  political  campaign 
is  singularly  futile.  Nearly  every  newspaper  is  par- 
tisan, and  it  is  read  abnost  entirely  by  members  of  the 
party  with  which  it  is  affiliated.  Those  readers  do 
not,  ordinarily,  need  to  be  convinced  of  the  advisabil- 
ity of  voting  for  the  candidate  of  their  party.  And 
yet  free  publicity  for  the  Republican  party  will  be 
received  only  by  Republican  newspapers,  and  free 
publicity  for  the  Democrats  can  be  inserted  only  in 
Democratic  papers.  The  Republicans  want  to  con- 
vince Democratic  voters,  and  the  Democrats  want  to 
convince  Republicans.  The  Only  way  any  party  or- 
ganization can  talk  eflPectively  in  print  to  members 
of  the  other  party  is  in  papers  read  by  those  mem- 
bers; and  the  only  way  in  which  they  can  tell  their 
story  in  those  papers  is  by  purchasing  space  in  the  ad- 
vertising columns. 

In  planning  a  political  advertising  campaign  it  is 
customary  now  to  employ  trained  advertising  men, 
who  study  tlie  problem  just  as  a  manufacturer  studies 
his  marketing  problem.  The  normal  vote  of  all  par- 
ties is  ascertained,  the  conditions  affecting  the  ])rob- 
able  vote  in  each  state  are  charted,  a  study  is  made  of 
the  special  party  appeals  that  ought  to  be  successful 
in  reaching  each  diff'erent  class  of  people,  and  the  ap- 
propriation is  divided  among  those  media  that  will 
best  reach  the  classes  aimed  at.  P'.ach  state  is  given 
attention  in  proportion  to  its  normal  vote,  its  electoral 


272  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

vote  and  the  degree  of  difficulty  that  is  expected 
in  convincing  the  voters.  All  publicity  media  are 
used. 

4.  Advertising  for  fair  play. — A  gas  company  con- 
trolling a  monopoly  in  a  city  of  350,000  population 
entered  into  an  agreement  with  the  city  council  allow- 
ing the  council  to  fix  rates  every  three  years,  provided 
only  "that  no  rate  should  be  so  fixed  as  to  fail  to 
afford  a  fair  return  on  the  capital  investment  of  the 
company." 

At  one  of  the  rate-fixing  periods  the  city  council 
employed  an  expert  to  determine  what  would  be  a 
fair  rate.  He  recommended  a  decrease  from  eighty- 
five  to  seventy  cents  a  thousand  cubic  feet,  maintain- 
ing that  the  gas  company's  property  was  worth  only 
$4,318,178,  altho  the  company  has  been  paying  taxes 
on  an  assessed  valuation  of  $7,078,520  which  was  fixed 
by  the  city.  Despite  the  apparent  injustice,  the  coun- 
cil seemed  determined  to  accept  the  recommendation 
and  to  establish  the  lower  rate.  It  would  have  been 
impossible  for  the  gas  company  to  get  the  newspapers 
to  present  the  company's  case  editorially,  because,  as 
the  editor  of  one  of  the  papers  said,  "If  there  is  even 
the  slightest  suspicion  these  days  that  a  newspaper  is 
favoring  a  public  service  corporation,  the  cry  goes  up 
that  it  has  'sold  out,'  and  half  its  usefulness  is  gone." 
Accordingly,  the  company  was  forced  to  advertise  to 
carry  its  case  to  the  peoj^le. 

Full-page  advertisements  were  used  in  all  the 
papers,  with  daily  insertions  during  the  ten  days  pre- 


PUBLIC  SENTIMENT  CAMPAIGNS  273 

ceding  action  by  the  council.  Each  advertisement 
was  signed  by  the  president  of  the  company.  All  the 
advertisements  formed  a  logical  series,  and  yet  each 
one  stood  alone  as  an  effective  presentation  of  the 
company's  case.  The  story  was  told  in  a  straightfor- 
ward manner,  combining  the  logical  appeal  of  a  law- 
yer with  the  narrative  style  of  a  newspaper  story. 
Supplementing  the  newspaper  advertising,  a  booklet 
was  sent  to  every  influential  citizen,  suggesting  that 
he  speak  to  his  alderman  if  he  were  convinced  of  the 
justice  of  the  company's  position. 

The  campaign  did  not  keep  the  city  council  from 
lowering  the  rate,  but  it  did  result  in  a  later  compro- 
mise which  was  satisfactory  both  to  the  citizens  and 
to  the  gas  company. 

5.  Advertising  to  mn  strikes. — AVhen  employes  of 
a  company  go  out  on  strike,  a  considerable  portion 
of  the  public  always  jumps  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  cause  of  the  strikers  must  be  just  and  that  the 
employer  must  be  in  the  wrong.  Public  sentiment 
has  a  decided  influence  on  the  success  or  failure  of  a 
strike,  particularly  when  a  public  service  corporation 
is  affected.  Public  sentiment  can  often  force  arbitra- 
tion, or,  if  it  is  sufficiently  aroused,  it  can  bring  one 
side  or  the  other  to  speedy  terms.  When  public  sen- 
timent is  on  tlie  side  of  the  strikers,  simply  because 
they  are  strikers,  the  employer  has  a  difficult  task  to 
obtain  a  fair  hearing.  Free  publicity  in  the  news- 
papers is  seldom  effective,  because  of  the  popular  sus- 
picion of  the  disinterestedness  of  some  editorial  ut- 


274'  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

terances.  Therefore  many  employers  tell  their  story 
to  the  people  by  means  of  an  advertising  campaign. 
Xewspapers  are  usually  employed,  also  posters,  book- 
lets distributed  on  trains,  and  other  media  are  used 
in  some  instances. 

Strikers  use  advertising  to  sway  public  sentiment 
less  often  than  employers.  When  the  influencing  of 
public  sentiment  is  necessary,  however,  there  is  no  rea- 
son why  properly  planned  and  conducted  advertis- 
ing campaigns  should  not  be  used  by  either  side  in 
a  strike  controversy. 

6.  Advertising  for  general  good-will. — When  a 
public  service  company  has  a  virtual  monopoly  in  its 
field,  it  ought  to  be  eager  to  build  up  popular  good- 
M'ill,  not  so  much  to  increase  the  immediate  sale  of 
its  services,  as  to  establish  a  strong  foundation  of 
popular  approval  which  will  serve  as  a  bulwark 
against  future  competition  or  public  hostility.  An 
interesting  campaign  of  this  sort  was  undertaken  in 
the  latter  part  of  1916  by  the  Pullman  Company. 
The  company  began  at  that  time  a  series  of  advertise- 
ments calling  public  attention  to  the  various  features 
of  Pullman  service,  and  reminding  readers  of  the 
tremendous  increase  in  the  ease  of  traveling  brought 
about  by  the  developments  in  the  equipment  and  in 
the  service  of  the  Pullman  Company.  A  campaign 
to  head  off  pubhc  ownership  or  rate  regulation  has 
been  carried  on  for  some  years  by  the  American  Tele- 
phone and  Telegraph  Company. 

Advertising  alone,  of  course,  cannot  build  good- will 


PUBLIC  SENTIMENT  CAMPAIGNS  275 

for  a  public  service  corporation  any  more  than  adver- 
tising alone  can  make  sales.  The  goods  and  the 
policy  of  the  house  must  be  right  if  sales  are  to  be 
made;  advertising  can  only  reflect  the  solid  facts  of 
quality  and  service.  In  a  similar  manner,  a  corpora- 
tion can  build  good-will  only  if  it  deserves  good-will; 
the  advertising  can  only  carry  to  a  wide  audience  the 
policy  of  the  corporation,  which  is  reflected  in  its 
actual  dealings  with  its  patrons.  It  can  remind  the 
public  of  points  in  the  company's  service  which  might 
otherwise  be  forgotten,  but  success  cannot  be  expected 
if  the  experience  of  the  public  does  not  coincide  with 
tlie  impression  sought  to  be  created  by  the  advertising. 

7.  Cooperative  public  sentiment  campaigns. — Dif- 
fering only  in  magnitude  from  public  sentiment  cam- 
j)aigns  conducted  by  single  corporations,  is  the  cam- 
paign carried  on  by  a  group  of  interests  operating  co- 
operatively when  they  are  confronted  by  the  common 
necessity  of  taking  their  case  to  the  people.  A  recent 
spectacular  example  was  the  effect  of  the  leading 
railroads  of  the  country,  assisted  by  nine  advertising 
agencies,  to  avert  threatened  labor  troubles  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1916.  Seventeen  thousand  newspapers  were 
used  to  carry  the  railroads'  case  to  the  public.  Four- 
teen thousand  of  these  were  weeklies  reaching  people 
in  small  communities. 

8.  Advertising  a  charitif. — The  Great  War  brought 
out  many  new  uses  for  advertising.  One  of  the  most 
striking  of  these  is  the  charity  drive  which  developed 
from  raising  money  for  what  were  known  as  War 


276  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

Chest  Funds.  Previous  to  that  time,  most  city  chari- 
ties undertook  private  canvasses  thru  personal  soHcita- 
tion  of  certain  groups  of  citizens.  Charities  became 
so  numerous,  however,  that  it  seemed  as  tho  the  solici- 
tation for  charity  on  an  organized  basis  was  becoming 
fully  as  much  a  constant  nuisance  as  the  beggar  of 
a  few  centuries  ago.  The  war  developed  many  addi- 
tional calls  for  money  and  these  calls  were  for  amounts 
never  dreamed  of  before.  The  citizens  of  Cleveland, 
Detroit,  Cincinnati,  Minneapolis  and  many  other 
large  cities  notified  the  charities  to  submit  budgets  and 
planned  extensive  sales  campaigns  to  raise  all  of  the 
money  necessary  at  one  time.  Cleveland's  first  War 
Chest  Drive  produced  more  than  four  million  dollars 
and  that  figure  has  been  repeated  nearly  every  year 
since.  Both  sales  and  advertising  effort  are  timed 
and  every  advisable  medium  of  publicity  is  used. 

9.  Cooperative  campaigns  for  specific  industries. 
— Akin  to  public  sentiment  campaigns  are  the  cam- 
paigns conducted  cooperatively  by  various  industries 
to  increase  the  consumption  of  the  products  of  those 
industries.  Among  the  industries  that  have  at- 
tempted on  a  large  scale  to  increase  consumption  have 
been  the  fruit  growers,  various  groups  of  lumber  in- 
terests, cement  manufacturers  and  the  producers  and 
distributers  ©f  dairy  products. 

Probably  the  most  successful  and  spectacular  of 
these  campaigns  is  the  one  conducted  by  the  Cali- 
fornia Fruit  Growers'  Exchange.  As  early  as  1896, 
this  organization  of  growers  of  oranges  and  lemons 


PUBLIC  SENTIMENT  CAMPAIGNS  277 

adopted  the  "Sunkist"  trade-mark  and  began  to  mar- 
ket fruit  cooperatively.  This  organization  acts  as  a 
clearing  house  for  its  members  and  markets  the  fruit 
at  actual  cost.  Seventy-five  branch  offices  were  orig- 
inally established  in  the  principal  cities  thruout  the 
country.  These  officers  were  in  daily  telegraphic 
touch  with  headquarters,  and  kept  the  home  office 
informed  of  the  state  of  the  local  fruit  markets.  They 
saw  that  shipments  to  each  district  paralleled  local 
demand,  thereby  freeing  the  industry  from  the  vio- 
lent price  fluctuations  that  always  accompany  the 
marketing  of  a  perishable  product  when  no  organized 
attempt  is  made  to  correlate  supply  and  demand. 

When  the  organization  was  formed,  California 
shipped  about  two  million  boxes  of  oranges  a  year  and 
the  growers  thought  they  were  over-producing.  The 
supply  was  so  far  in  excess  of  the  demand  that  at 
times  the  returns  were  less  than  the  cost.  By  1906 
the  sales  had  been  pushed  up  to  ten  million  boxes  and 
by  1917  the  sales  passed  twenty  million  boxes.  The 
advertising  ap})ropriation  is  somewhat  in  excess  of 
one-half  million  dollars  a  year.  The  following  table 
gives  the  business  of  the  California  Fruit  Growers' 
Exchange  and  the  percentage  for  sales  and  advertis- 
ing expense  by  years  from  1910  thru  1919: 


Percentage   for 

Year 

Salet 

advertising  and 
selling  expense 

1910 

$14,831,975 

3.57 

1911 

20,708,000 

3.25 

1912 

17,235,822 

3.53 

278  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

1913  $13,640,091        2.62 

1914  18,990,725  3.31 

1915  19,628,397  3.72 

1916  27,675,920  3.14 

1917  33,478,130  3.01 

1918  36,291,675  1.79 

1919  54,627,556  2.01 

It  is  said  that  the  marketing  cost  of  the  CaHfornia 
Fruit  Growers'  Exchange  is  less  than  that  of  any  other 
commodity  regardless  of  its  nature.  The  success  of 
the  Exchange  is  a  striking  tribute  to  the  value  of  or- 
ganization backed  by  vigorous,  persistent  advertising. 

10.  Advertising  a  city. — Campaigns  to  advertise 
cities  are  not  strictly  public  sentiment  campaigns. 
They  are  sales  campaigns,  intended  to  sell  the  city 
and  its  opportunities  to  factories  looking  for  a  home 
and  to  people  looking  for  a  desirable  place  to  live 
in  or  to  visit.  Nevertheless,  because  they  are  con- 
ducted in  the  interests  of  groups  of  people  instead  of 
single  individuals  or  companies,  and  because  they  are 
not  concerned  with  the  sale  of  merchandise,  they  have 
more  in  common  with  public  sentiment  campaigns 
than  with  any  other  kind  of  advertising. 

Some  cities  advertise  to  bring  tourists  and  conven- 
tions. The  cities  of  the  Pacific  coast  have  done  this 
to  a  large  extent.  Others  wish  to  attract  factories 
and  to  bring  in  permanent  residents.  This  is  a  newer 
development  in  city  advertising  than  advertising  for 
tourist  trade.  Man}^  cities  have  tried  it — some  of 
them  in  a  spectacular  way.     A  few  years  ago  Des- 


PUBLIC  SENTIMENT  CAMPAIGNS  279 

Moines,  as  "the  city  of  certainties,"  was  heralded  in 
the  advertising  columns  of  many  national  magazines. 
Magazine  advertising,  however,  is  by  no  means  the 
only  sort  of  publicity  that  cities  use  to  build  up  the 
communities.  There  is  scarcely  a  chamber  of  com- 
merce or  commercial  club  in  the  United  States  that 
lias  not  a  more  or  less  carefully  planned  campaign  to 
attract  visitors,  interest  factory  owners  and  bring  in 
residents.  Usually  the  campaign  consists  entirely  in 
tlie  use  of  direct  media.  Booklets  describing  the  city 
and  its  advantages  are  the  mainstay  of  the  publicity.. 
These  booklets  may  be  supplemented  by  letters,  trade 
excursions  and  a  variety  of  other  things  that  are  ex- 
])ected  to  attract  attention  to  a  community  and  to 
arouse  interest  in  it. 

The  value  of  city  advertising  depends  on  several 
things.  First,  there  must  be  something  to  advertise. 
Unless  there  are  some  real  reasons  why  people  should 
buy  a  certain  commodity  it  will  do  no  good  to  adver- 
tise that  commodity.  In  like  manner,  a  city  that  has 
no  real  advantages  as  a  factory  site  or  as  a  place  of 
residence  can  scarcely  expect  to  get  results  from  ad- 
vertising. The  trouble  with  many  town  promotion 
campaigns  is  that  there  was  no  adequate  "study  of 
the  j)r()duct"  before  the  camj)aign  was  imdertaken. 
An  analysis  will  often  show  that  a  town  needs  to 
"clean  house"  in  many  different  ways  before  it  can 
afford  to  set  out  consciously  to  attract  attention  to 
itself.  Advertising  that  is  better  than  the  article  ad- 
vertised is  as  bad  for  a  citv  as  for  a  manufacturer. 


280  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

Actual  recorded  results  of  city  advertising  cam- 
paigns are  difficult  to  get.  A  few  are  available,  how- 
ever. Among  them  perhaps  the  most  successful  re- 
corded results  were  from  a  campaign  conducted  by 
Nashville  in  1911.  Booklets  were  prepared;  maga- 
zines and  newspapers  were  used ;  and  local  campaigns 
with  personal  workers  were  carried  on  for  short  pe- 
riods in  the  leading  cities  of  the  country.  The  re- 
ported expenses  and  results  were  as  follows: 

EXPENSES 

Direct  advertising  (23  pieces)  $20,000 

Periodical  advertising  25,000 

Office  expense  10,000 

Factory  sites  and  assisting  factories  12,000 

Entertainment  of  conventions  14f,000 

Sundry  expenses  17,000 


$98,000 


RESULTS 


74  new  factories 
292  conventions 


During  1919  the  City  of  New  Orleans  subscribed 
from  the  Mayor's  contingent  fund  a  large  sum  for  a 
nine  months'  advertising  campaign  preparatory  to 
the  convention  of  the  Associated  Advertising  Clubs 
of  the  World.  Double  page  spreads  appeared  in 
magazines,  and  the  street  cars  were  also  used.  The 
campaign  made  plain  to  inland  communities  the  great 
advantages  of  the  City  of  New  Orleans  as  a  port. 

That  it  does  not  require  excessive  expenditures  to 


PUBLIC  SENTIMENT  CAMPAIGNS  281 

build  up  a  city  if  the  city  really  has  something  to 
offer  and  the  campaign  is  properly  conducted,  is  in- 
dicated by  the  experience  of  Calgary,  Alberta.  In 
1914,  with  an  advertising  expenditure  of  only  $11,- 
000,  Calgary  was  successful  in  attracting  twelve  new 
manufacturing  enterprises. 

11.  Advertising  a  state. — The  members  of  the 
Portland  Conmiercial  Club,  realizing  that  Portland 
is  the  largest  city  in  Oregon,  and  estimating  that  of 
every  dollar  earned  in  the  state  sixty  cents  is  spent  in 
Portland,  as  early  as  1907  developed  a  plan  to  adver- 
tise the  State  of  Oregon  and  its  resources.  The  Ore- 
gon Development  Association  was  formed  by  the 
members  of  the  Portland  Commercial  Club.  Their 
motto  is:  "Not  one  cent  to  advertise  Portland — 
everything  for  Oregon." 

Advertisements  were  inserted  in  many  periodicals 
in  order  to  elicit  inquiries  for  literature  about  the 
state.  Commercial  clubs  were  organized  in  all  the 
small  towns,  and  a  bulletin  was  issued  twice  a  week 
to  these  commercial  clubs  giving  the  names  and  ad- 
dresses of  incjuirers,  together  with  the  specific  sub- 
jects in  which  they  appeared  to  be  interested.  The 
Oregon  Development  Association  mailed  a  booklet 
and  a  letter  to  each  inquirer,  and  each  community 
selected  from  the  names  of  inquirers  certain  people 
on  whom  it  concentrated  its  efforts. 

The  proprietors  of  summer  resorts  and  the  smaller 
to^iis  along  the  automobile  routes  in  Minnesota  have 
organized  the  Minnesota  Ten  Thousand  Lakes  Asso- 


282  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS  ' 

ciation  which  advertises  the  beauty  of  that  state  as  a  | 
tourist  attraction.  While  the  proprietors  of  the  sum-  I 
mef  resorts  subscribe  to  the  campaign  for  the  imme-  | 
diate  business  which  it  brings  them,  the  bankers  and 
other  business  men  in  the  small  towns  find  that  their  ] 
subscriptions  are  well  repaid  in  the  new  business  the  ! 
advertising  brings  the  community. 

As  an  example  of  how  this  plan  worked,  consider  ! 
the  case  of  Creswell,  Oregon.     When  Creswell  asso- 
ciated itself  with  the  campaign  it  was  thirty-two  years 
old,  had  a  population  of  300  and  did  not  have  a  bank,  i 
A  commercial  club  was  organized,  and  an  appropria-  , 
tion  of  $1,500  to  supplement  the  advertising  of  the  \ 
Oregon   Development    Association   was    subscribed,  i 
The  secretary  of  the  commercial  club  asked  each  resi-  i 
dent  to  fill  out  a  card  giving  the  section  of  the  East  j 
in  which  he  had  once  lived  or  in  which  he  had  friends.  | 
These  cards  were  arranged  geographically;  when  a 
list  of  inquirers  was  received  from  the  Oregon  De-  j 
velopment  Association,   the  local  secretary  entered  ; 
into  correspondence  only  with  people  located  in  dis-  | 
tricts  where  the  inhabitants  of  Creswell  had  friends,  i 
The  secretary  kept  in  constant  telephone  communica- 
tion with  the  people  in  the  town,  and  each  inhabitant  i 
arranged  a  follow-up  series  of  personal  letters  of  his  ] 
own  to  persons  living  near  his  old  eastern  home,  who,  I 
by  responding  to  the  advertising  of  the  Oregon  De- 
velopment Association,  had  shown  an  interest  in  the-i 
West   and   its   opportunities.     Xot   only   would   the  ' 
father  of  the  family  write  to  the  inquirer,  but  the  chil-  ; 


PUBLIC  SENTIMENT  CAMPAIGNS  283 

dren  would  write  to  the  children  of  the  inquirer,  and 
in  some  cases  tlie  wife  of  the  Oregon  man  would  write 
to  the  wife  of  the  Easterner  telling  of  her  experi- 
ences in  Oregon,  and  urging  the  eastern  woman  to 
consider  moving  West  and  becoming  a  neighbor 
again.  Thru  such  cooperative  effort  has  the  West 
been  built.  In  two  years  Creswell  doubled  in  popu- 
lation. The  adjacent  farm  lands  trebled  in  value. 
The  new  bank  was  a  thriving  institution.  Concrete 
sidewalks  were  laid.  New  buildings  went  up,  and  the 
inhabitants  of  Creswell  proved  to  the  world  that  no 
city  is  too  small  to  advertise. 

12.  ^idvcrtising  national  needs. — Some  of  the  most 
interesting  uses  of  advertising  were  brought  out  by 
the  great  war.  Before  the  United  States  entered  the 
conflict,  we  had  heard  of  the  remarkable  publicity  thru 
all  forms  of  advertising  which  had  been  used  in  Great 
Hritain,  in  recruiting  its  great  army. 

The  experience  of  our  Ally  led  the  United  States 
into  advertising  campaigns  unprecedented  heretofore. 
Whether  it  was  a  matter  of  recruiting  the  army,  navy 
or  marines,  conserving  food,  the  sale  of  bonds  or  of 
War  Savings  Stamps,  or  the  collection  of  money  for 
the  Red  Cross  and  other  war  service  organizations,  the 
message  was  brought  home  to  our  people  by  advertis- 
ing that  flamed,  it  seemed,  on  every  wall  and  from 
every  window.  The  best  advertising  talent  in  the 
nation  was  placed  at  the  service  of  the  government, 
and  every  device  of  modern  advertising  was  freely 
utilized.     Not  only  was  the  advertising  experience 


284  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

mobilized  in  the  nation's  service,  but  the  nation's  ad- 
vertisers themselves  were  called  upon  for  patriotic 
effort.  To  them  is  due  the  extensive  newspaper  ad- 
vertising which  characterized  the  war  period.  Cen- 
tral organs  in  Washington  prepared  copy  and  asked 
the  national  advertisers  to  pay  for  its  insertions  in  the 
newspapers.  The  story  of  this  advertising  activity 
would  require  a  volume  for  all  the  details  of  its 
achievements,  but  the  evidence  of  its  work  was 
brought  home  to  every  citizen. 

13.  Modern  national  advertising. — Foremost 
among  the  associations  contributing  to  the  advertising 
of  the  government  during  the  war  was  the  American 
Association  of  Advertising  Agencies.  After  the  war, 
this  association,  representing  in  its  membership  the 
agencies  which  place  more  than  90%  of  all  national 
advertising,  proposed  to  the  government  a  plan  by 
which  the  talent  of  all  of  these  agencies  might  be  used 
for  any  advertising  campaigns  any  of  the  departments 
of  the  government  might  undertake.  A  separate  cor- 
poration was  formed  known  as  the  Advertising  Agen- 
cies Corporation.  While  the  permanent  offices  of  the 
corporation  are  in  New  York  and  while  a  regular 
staff  for  the  operating  department  of  agency  service 
is  constantly  maintained,  the  other  three  steps  of 
agency  service,  investigating,  planning  and  produc- 
ing, are  performed  by  the  different  members  on  as- 
signment. The  Agencies  Corporation  has  handled 
special  recruiting  drives  for  both  the  Army  and  JVavy 


PUBLIC  SENTIMENT  CAMPAIGNS  285 

and  has  at  different  times  undertaken  advertising  cam- 
paigns for  other  departments  of  the  government. 

REVIEW 

What  is  the  first  requirement  of  a  public  sentiment  cam- 
paign ? 

Do  you  believe  that  paid  advertising  on  a  large  scale  is 
advisable  for  a  great  exposition?     Why? 

What  two  things  can  a  monopoly  hope  to  accomplish  by 
advertising? 

When  workers  strike,  why  does  the  employer  advertise? 

Many  city  advertising  campaigns  fail.     Why? 

Can  you  think  of  things  the  United  States  government 
might  accomplish  by  advertising,  other  than  those  mentioned 
in  the  chapter? 


XIII— 20 


CHAPTER  XIX 

THE  TRADER'S  CAMPAIGN 

1.  Classes  of  distributors. — The  campaigns  thus 
far  considered  are  essentially  those  of  the  manufac- 
turer. The  special  advertising  problems  of  the  dis- 
tributor remain  to  be  considered.  Here  the  usual 
distinction  between  the  wholesaler  or  jobber  on  the 
one  hand,  and  the  retailer  on  the  other  is  significant 
for  our  purpose  since  each  has  his  special  needs. 

Sometimes  indeed  we  hear  of  an  advertiser  who 
is  both  manufacturer  and  jobber.  So  far  as  he  is  a 
manufacturer  his  problems  have  already  been  consid- 
ered; so  far  as  he  is  a  jobber  his  special  needs  will  be 
discussed  in  the  sections  which  follow. 

2.  Development  of  jobber  advertising. — Publicity 
by  jobbers  is  of  comparatively  recent  date.  In  for- 
mer days  a  few  announcements  appeared  in  the  trade 
papers.  But  when  the  dealer  paid  for  his  insertions 
he  reckoned  it  as  an  act  of  kindness  to  the  publisher, 
as  means  of  securing  good-will,  sometimes  perhaps  as 
a  tribute  exacted  to  prevent  ill-will,  and  did  not  count 
it  as  a  part  of  any  well  defined  policy  for  increasing 
the  sale  of  his  goods.  In  recent  years  dealer  adver- 
tisements have  become  more  numerous  and  more  ex- 
tensive. 

286 


THE  TRADER'S  CAMPAIGN  287 

Formerly  the  advertisements  of  different  jobbers 
were  as  like  as  two  peas.  The  firm  name  and  a  notice 
of  the  line  it  dealt  in,  often  embellished  with  a  cut  of 
its  office,  warehouse  or  trade  symbol  formed  the  sum 
and  substance  of  jobber  advertising.  More  recently 
there  has  been  an  effort  toward  greater  variety. 

A  variation  from  traditional  forms  came  in  the 
endeavor  to  exploit  jobbers'  private  brands.  Any 
campaign  to  push  a  special  commodity  or  group  of 
commodities  will  of  course  follow  the  same  methods 
whether  it  is  a  manufacturer  or  a  jobber  who  foots 
the  bill.  What  these  methods  are  has  already  been 
discussed.  How  far  the  jobber  may  be  justified  in 
this  special  expenditure  for  a  limited  part  of  his 
stock  is  a  question  to  be  decided  in  each  particular 
case. 

After  all  comparatively  few  jobbers  believe  it  to 
be  profitable  to  advertise  their  own  private  brands, 
and  this  is  not  the  predominant  form  of  jobber  ad- 
vertising. Most  jobbers  handle  competing  lines  and 
prefer  to  emphasize  the  variety  and  quality  of  their 
stock,  and  especially  the  service  which  they  can  ren- 
der to  their  customers.  They  believe  that  the  retailer 
is  interested  not  so  much  in  any  particular  brand  of 
goods  as  in  getting  what  he  wants,  and  getting  it 
promptly.  Thru  his  advertising  as  well  as  thru  his 
other  sales  efforts,  the  jobber  seeks  to  impress  as 
forcefully  as  possible  on  the  retailer  that  he  can  ren- 
der the  latter  real  service. 


288  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

3.  Jobber's  gain  thru  advertising. — ^While  modern 
business  emphasizes  the  idea  of  service,  it  does  not  go 
so  far  as  to  confuse  service  with  philanthropy.  The 
jobber  makes  no  pretense  that  he  offers  exceptional 
service  to  the  retailer  out  of  pure  goodness  of  heart. 
His  advertising  bears  a  definite  relation  to  his  own 
business  policy.  It  is  designed  of  course  to  build  up 
good-will,  but  it  serves  another  important  function 
in  paving  the  way  for  the  sales  force.  Advertising 
is  an  effective  adjunct  to  the  work  of  the  sales  force, 
particularly  when  a  new  product  or  a  new  line  is  taken 
up  by  the  house. 

4.  Media  for  the  jobber. — The  jobber's  market 
is  in  some  respects  a  limited  one.  He  appeals  not  to 
the  general  public  but  to  the  retail  merchants  who 
are  in  his  line  of  business  and  who  are  within  the  area 
of  his  operations.  He  has  little  if  anything  to  gain 
by  going  beyond  the  special  trade  papers  for  general 
publicity.  But  here  again  he  must  be  on  his  guard 
against  waste  circulation.  He  pays  for  wasted  ef- 
fort if  the  paper  selected  circulates  widely  outside 
the  area  he  serves.  He  wastes  money  when  he 
advertises  in  journals  of  poor  quality  or  limited  cir- 
culation. In  the  one  instance  he  reaches  per- 
sons whose  trade  he  may  esteem  of  little  value. 
In  the  other  he  fails  to  reach  as  many  as  he 
should. 

The  difficulties  which  attend  trade  paper  publicity 
often  lead  jobbers  to  make  an  extensive  use  of  the 
various  forms  of  direct  advertising. 


THE  TRADER'S  CAMPAIGN  289 

5.  Retailer's  advertising. — While  the  jobber  seeks 
to  reach  a  special  public  in  a  comparatively  large 
area,  the  retailer  directs  his  efforts  to  the  general 
public  in  a  much  restricted  area.  This  fundamental 
difference  in  purpose  dominates  the  advertising  as 
well  as  other  sales  efforts  of  the  retailer.  His  service 
is  directly  to  the  consumer  and  this  fact  must  guide  his 
advertising  policy.  Furthermore  the  manj'^  and  va- 
ried types  of  business  which  are  included  under  the 
general  term  retailer  and  the  necessities  of  different 
lines  of  business  dictate  different  advertising  meth- 
ods according  to  circumstances.  Two  retailers  even 
in  the  same  line  may  employ  entirely  different  meth- 
ods and  yet  both  be  successful. 

6.  What  is  advertising. — It  may  seem  late  in  the 
day  to  raise  the  question,  what  is  advertising,  but  it 
has  a  direct  bearing  upon  the  retailer's  needs.  The 
purpose  of  retail  advertising  is  sometimes  said  to  be  to 
get  people  to  the  store  and  to  induce  them  to  buy. 
Retail  trade  offers  so  many  points  of  personal  contact 
between  buyer  and  seller,  that  when  advertising  is 
thus  defined  it  may  readily  be  stretched  to  include  all 
means  of  securing  attention  and  all  sales  inducements. 
In  a  certain  broad  sense  a  store  advertises  thru  its 
sign,  its  store  front,  its  window  dressing,  its  interior 
displays,  and  the  conveniences  which  it  offers  the 
public. 

In  a  general  way  we  may  distinguish  between  in- 
ducements to  visit  the  store  and  inducements  to  pur- 
chase.    It  is  the  former  group  of  activities — the  long 


290  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

range  operations,  as  it  were — that  are  distinctively 
advertising  and  obviously  nothing  else.  It  is  to  them 
that  the  present  discussion  is  limited. 

7.  An  advertising  policy. — We  are  concerned  here 
with  advertising  campaigns,  the  complete  and  definite 
expression  of  an  advertising  policy  which  has  been 
determined  upon.  The  small  retailer,  more  perhaps 
than  any  other  class,  has  very  hazy  ideas  as  to  the 
value  of  advertising,  and  is  often  fickle,  haphazard, 
and  therefore  ineffective  in  the  expenditure  which  he 
makes  for  that  purpose.  No  matter  how  small  the 
business  unit,  it  should  adopt  a  definite  attitude  and 
policy  with  regard  to  advertising.  The  retailer  may 
conclude  that  in  his  business  no  advertising  would  be 
profitable,  but  if  he  reaches  such  a  conclusion  then 
let  him  at  least  hold  to  it  until  he  has  tried  out  the 
policy  for  a  sufficient  length  of  time  to  test  its  value. 
Whatever  the  policy  may  be  it  should  be  so  firmly 
fixed  in  his  own  mind  that  he  can  withstand  the  wiles 
of  the  solicitors  who  very  often  offer  him  nothing  for 
something. 

In  retail  trade  as  elsewhere,  there  is  a  distinct  ad- 
vantage in  having  a  definite  advertising  appropria- 
tion and  a  definite  plan  for  spending  it.  One  feature 
of  such  a  plan  will  of  necessity  be  its  regularity. 
Regularity,  it  may  be  noted,  need  not  imply  monot- 
ony. Variety  is  an  essential  of  effective  publicity. 
Regularity  will,  however,  combat  the  prejudice  which 
exists  in  the  minds  of  many  retailers  that  it  only  pays 
to   advertise   when   they   have   some    "special   sale." 


THE  TRADER'S  CAMPAIGN  291 

Progressive  retailers  are  beginning  to  realize  that 
this  is  a  delusion.  Advertising  of  such  a  nature  is 
perhaps  the  least  profitable  form  which  the  retailer 
can  adopt.  Better  advertising  is  that  which  directs 
the  attention  of  possible  purchasers  to  the  regular 
stock  which  is  sold  at  the  regular  prices,  and  arouses 
interest  in  these  goods. 

No  retailer  who  adopts  a  definite  and  regular  ad- 
vertising policy  will  succumb  to  the  widely  prevalent 
delusion  that  every  advertisement  should  pay  for  it- 
self, and  do  it  quickly.  He  will  not  expect  the  re- 
turns from  advertising  to  be  immediately  discernible. 
He  will  understand  that  a  particular  advertisement 
may  be  felt  weeks  and  even  months  after  its  inser- 
tion. The  purpose  of  advertising  is  to  create  good- 
will for  the  liouse  and  even  tho  immediate  results  can- 
not be  discovered,  it  is  not  necessarily  wasted.  The 
salesman  on  the  road  may  be  disappointed  in  not  get- 
ting an  order  from  one  of  his  customers,  but  he  does 
not  necessarily  feel  that  his  call  has  been  entirely 
fruitless.  In  many  cases,  to  the  contrary,  he  knows 
that  he  has  made  it  easy  to  effect  a  sale  on  his  next 
call.  In  other  words,  he  has  made  an  investment  in 
good-will  from  which  he  may  reasonably  expect  divi- 
dends in  the  future.  This  should  also  be  the  attitude 
of  the  advertiser.  He  should  remember  that  persist- 
ence in  good  work  brings  its  reward. 

8.  What  makes  poor  copy. — There  is  probably  no 
field  in  which  advertising  is  more  hackneyed  and  more 
perfunctory  than  in  the  notices  inserted  in  the  smaller 


292  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

papers  by  average  retail  dealers.  Many  of  them  are 
content  with  an  announcement  of  the  firm's  name, 
the  goods  dealt  in  and  the  location  of  the  store.  In 
inserting  such  notices  sorrte  delude  themselves  into 
the  belief  that  they  are  advertising,  while  others  who 
know  no  other  kind  of  copy  have  been  cured  of  the 
delusion  and  have  adopted  a  new  one  that  "advertis- 
ing does  not  pay."  If  a  retailer  imagines  that  his  no- 
tice in  the  paper  serves  no  purpose  other  than  that 
of  a  classified  business  directory  of  telling  people 
what  persons  and  firms  in  town  deal  in  certain  arti- 
cles, he  had  better  leave  advertising  alone  and  save  his 
money. 

The  wrong  kind  of  advertising  never  pays,  the 
right  kind  always  does.  It  is  the  merchant's  prob- 
lem to  determine  what  is  the  right  kind  for  him.  This 
of  course  will  depend  on  a  wide  variety  of  circum- 
stances. In  any  case  there  are  general  rules  to  guide 
him. 

9.  What  makes  good  copy. — To  make  good  copy 
and  to  obtain  the  purpose  for  which  it  is  designed,  the 
retailer's  advertisement  must  have  vim,  vigor,  interest 
and  personality. 

Wishy-washy,  spineless  statements  attract  no  at- 
tention. The  reader  passes  them  by.  Vigorous,  di- 
rect and  forceful  language  in  an  advertisement  com- 
pels people  to  read  who  had  no  thought  of  doing  so 
when  picking  up  the  paper.  While  this  is  true,  no  orie 
is  pleasantly  impressed  by  mere  noise.  The  beating 
of    tin    pans     is    never    agreeable.      There     must 


THE    TRADER'S    CAMPAIGN  298 

be  something  back  of  it.  This  something  is  the  story 
wliich  the  advertiser  has  to  tell. 

The  story  must  be  interesting.  The  advertiser  can 
well  take  his  cue  from  the  reading  matter  in  the  pa- 
per. He  knows  that  however  curious  and  inform- 
ing may  be  the  patent  insides  which  are  the  delight  of 
rural  journalism,  after  all  people  in  his  community 
are  most  keenly  interested  in  the  news  of  the  day. 
Therefore  he  should  make  his  advertisement  deal  with 
store  news.  If  he  adopts  this  plan  he  will  not  allow 
his  material  to  grow  stale,  for  he  will  know  that  as 
soon  as  it  becomes  musty  it  is  no  longer  news,  and  no 
longer  of  interest.  This  means  that  advertising  must 
change  frequently,  bring  out  new  features  of  mer- 
chandise and  service,  and  if  he  can  educate  his  public 
to  say  instinctively,  and  some  advertisers  have  ac- 
complished this,  "I  wonder  what says  today," 

or  "this  week,"  he  will  have  attained  the  highest  goal. 

The  personality  in  one's  advertising  should  be  dis' 
tinctive.  The  example  of  the  great  department 
stores  might  well  be  followed  by  other  advertisers^ 
In  large  cities  the  newspaper  reader  recognizes  cer- 
tain advertisements  even  at  a  distance,  as  belonging 
to  certain  stores.  There  is  a  distinctive  use  of  type, 
borders,  illustrations  and  arrangement  which  gives  to 
the  advertising  of  such  stores  a  definite  personality. 
This  is  an  element  in  attracting  and  holding  atten- 
tion which  is  not  to  be  neglected. 

10.  Ti/pcs  of  retail  advertising. — Advertising  by 
retailers  varies  with  the  different  kinds  of  goods  which 


294f  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

they  offer  for  sale.  But  more  important  variations 
result  from  the  several  types  of  stores  included  under 
the  general  designation  of  retailer.  The  small  store, 
whether  it  be  a  general  country  store  or  a  specialty 
store,  must  meet  different  conditions  from  the  chain 
stores  on  the  one  hand  and  the  department  stores  on 
the  other.  These  conditions  are  again  modified  by  the 
location  of  the  small  store,  whether  it  is  in  a  small 
community  or  in  the  midst  of  a  great  city. 

11.  Small  store  advertising. — The  typical  small 
store  in  smaller  communities  is  not  given  to  advertis- 
ing. The  proprietor  usually  feels  that  everybody  in 
town  knows  who  he  is,  where  he  is  and  what  he  sells. 
Of  what  use  then  to  constantly  force  himself  on  the 
attention  of  the  public?  It  is  a  comparatively  small 
mind  that  thinks  in  this  way.  Such  a  man  probably 
deceives  himself.  Some  people  know  him  but  it  is  a 
question  whether  everybody  does,  and  it  is  a  still 
greater  question  whether  everybody  is  interested  in 
the  service  which  he  can  render.  No  excellence  of 
his  goods  or  his  service  can  bring  his  enterprise  and 
his  wares  to  the  active  attention  of  so  large  an  inter- 
ested circle  as  can  be  reached  thru  advertising  of  the 
right  sort. 

12.  Choice  of  media. — Because  the  small  slore 
usually  serves  a  comparatively  limited  area  the  re- 
tailer must  exercise  great  discretion  in  the  choice  of 
advertising  mediums  in  order  to  avoid  waste.  News- 
paper publicity  in  large  cities  and  in  many  of  medium 
size  would  cost  too  much  and  would  be  comparatively 


THE  TRADER'S  CAMPAIGN  295 

useless  to  purchase.  In  smaller  towns  where  dis- 
tances to  be  covered  are  not  great,  local  dealers  can 
make  effective  use  of  the  regular  newspaper  press. 
Moreover,  in  the  larger  cities  there  are  often  news- 
papers, usually  weeklies  or  semi-weeklies,  devoted  to 
the  use  of  one  section  and  these  may  serve  as  advertis- 
ing mediums  for  the  small  merchant.  He  may  also 
find  it  to  his  advantage  to  utilize  local  church  papers, 
lodge  and  fraternity  papers,  theatre  programs  and  the 
like,  tho  these  should  be  weighed  very  carefully  both  as 
respects  the  actual  circulation  which  they  secure  and 
also  as  to  the  regularity  of  the  service  which  they  can 
render. 

The  difficulties  which  have  been  noted  above  have 
led  many  small  stores  to  obtain  an  effective  substi- 
tute for  newspaper  advertising  thru  the  publication 
of  store  papers.  In  them  we  find  a  judicious  mixture 
of  news,  chiefly  of  a  local  nature,  and  the  advertising 
of  the  store  which  issues  the  paper.  Such  papers  are 
in  some  respects  akin  to  direct  advertising,  but  as  a 
rule  they  are  not  sent  to  definite  mailing  lists,  but  are 
distributed  by  hand  thru  the  neighborhood  which  the 
store  expects  to  serve. 

The  different  forms  of  direct  advertising  by  mail 
are  used  by  many  small  stores.  Circular  letters  to 
customers  and  prospects  are  often  employed.  Other 
concerns  adopt  the  plan  of  sending  a  small  folder  ad- 
vertising their  goods  at  regular  intervals. 

13.  Chain  store  advertising. — The  chain  store  is 
one  of  the  most  recent  forms  of  retail  selling  and  has 


296  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

had  an  almost  phenomenal  development.  Chain  store 
management  has  up  to  the  present  made  but  little 
use  of  advertising.  Chain  store  advertising  depends 
upon  the  kind  of  articles  sold  and  the  type  of  chain 
represented,  whether  national  or  local.  Advertising 
methods  followed  by  a  shoe  chain  in  which  the  prod- 
uct was  sold  to  the  consumer  in  stores  operated  by 
the  manufacturer  in  a  large  number  of  cities  would 
not  serve  a  grocery  chain  which  bought  from  jobbers 
and  which  operated  in  a  narrow  territory.  With  the 
exception  of  a  cigar  chain  and  a  few  other  chains  of 
national  scope,  chain  stores  advertise,  if  they  advertise 
at  all,  only  locally.  The  fact  that  these  stores  are 
widely  dispersed  thruout  the  community  makes  it 
possible  for  them  to  utilize  metropolitan  newspapers 
without  the  loss  which  would  accrue  to  the  usual  small 
store  in  buying  space  in  such  media. 

14.  Featuring  of  price. — Perhaps  if  there  is  any 
distinctive  point  in  chain  store  advertising  it  lies  in  the 
emphasis  on  low  prices.  These  cut  price  appeals  are 
often  supplemented  by  trading  stamps,  coupons,  pre- 
mium offers,  and  other  advertising  devices  of  a  similar 
nature. 

On  the  other  hand  chains  which  are  established  to 
market  a  specific  product,  such  as  the  shoe  chains,  do 
not  feature  price  to  the  same  extent  but  make  their 
appeal  on  the  basis  of  quahty,  style  or  comfort. 

15.  Advertising  methods. — In  short,  national  ad- 
vertising is  applicable  to  a  few  chains,  but  not  to  the 
great  majority  of  them. 


THE  TRADER'S  CAMPAIGN  297 

Most  of  them  are  local  chains  which  until  recently 
have  used  very  little  newspaper  publicity.  Theirs 
is  strictly  a  neighborhood  business  and  in  the  main 
they  have  relied  upon  the  same  methods  of  attracting 
trade  as  their  independent  competitors.  The  stand- 
ardized store  front  of  the  more  familiar  chains  may 
not  be  advertising  as  we  are  using  the  term  here,  but 
it  is  a  powerful  magnet  to  attract  attention  and  draw 
trade.  Newspapers  are  used  by  the  drug  chains  es- 
pecially to  advertise  their  "one  cent  sales."  Chains 
also  use  the  papers  to  introduce  new  articles.  In 
general  the  amount  of  their  newspaper  advertising 
is  small.  As  chains  operate  on  a  cash  basis  they 
rarely  have  lists  of  customers  to  whom  they  can  ap- 
peal by  direct  mail  advertising.  A  certain  amount  of 
neigliborhood  advertising  is  done  thru  store  papers 
and  dodgers. 

16.  Department  store  advertising. — The  depart- 
ment store  is  a  product  of  city  growth.  It  is  a  local 
institution  with  a  local  patronage.  Its  advertising  is 
limited  in  its  appeal  to  the  city  and  its  environs  and  in 
the  very  large  cities  to  the  metropolitan  area  or  dis- 
trict. In  this  respect  the  department  store  is  like 
most  chain  stores  and  other  retail  stores  in  being  a 
local  advertiser.  On  the  other  hand  its  trade  is  not  a 
neighborhood  trade,  and  it  is  not  restricted  in  its  ad- 
vertising by  this  consideration. 

17.  Choice  of  media. — Department  store  advertis- 
ing is  done  almost  exclusively  thru  the  newspapers. 
The  occasional  use  of  car  cards  or  bill  boards  involves 


298  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

no  great  expenditure  compared  with  the  sums  paid 
for  newspaper  advertising.  Department  stores  are 
indeed  greater  newspaper  advertisers  than  any  other 
business  and  an  important  support  of  the  business 
end  of  the  newspapers.  Their  expenditures  are  enor- 
mous. In  1 9 13,  nine  large  department  stores  lo- 
cated in  Boston,  New  York  and  Philadelphia  are  re- 
ported to  have  spent  $3,700,000  on  newspaper  adver- 
tising. For  the  stores  forming  the  group,  the  sums 
so  spent  were  from  two  to  five  per  cent  of  their  total 
annual  sales.  ^ 

In  making  such  general  use  of  the  newspaper  to 
the  exclusion  of  other  media,  advertising  managers 
of  department  stores  believe  that  they  have  secured 
the  quickest,  most  accessible  and  most  effective  way 
of  gaining  publicity  for  their  goods.  No  other  me- 
dium can  give  publicity  to  as  large  a  number  of  people 
in  such  limited  time  as  the  newspaper.  Nor  can  a 
more  effective  way  for  presenting  advertising  news  be 
devised. 

18.  Methods  of  appeal. — The  object  of  depart- 
ment store  advertising  is  to  induce  people  to  come  to 
the  store,  for  at  least  a  certain  proportion  of  those 
who  do  so  will  become  purchasers.  The  advertise- 
ments are  prepared  by  specialists  and  set  forth  in  a 
specific  way  information  about  the  style,  quality  and 
price  of  the  goods  on  sale. 

Like  the  average  chain  store  the  department  store 
features  price  as  one  form  of  appeal.     One  phase  of 

1  "The  Economics  of  Retailing"  by  P.  J.  Nystrom,  p.  201, 


THE  TRADER'S  CAMPAIGN  299 

this  appeal,  the  bargain  sale,  is  fast  passing  into  dis- 
use or  was  doing  so  until  the  readjustment  of  retail 
prices  that  began  in  1920  and  temporarily,  at  least, 
made  bargain  sales  imperative  for  all.  Formerly  a 
large  part  of  department  store  business  was  built  up 
on  bargain  advertising.  Among  the  pretexts  given 
for  bargain  sales  were  fires,  overstocked  goods,  fail- 
ures and  "seconds."  Normally  the  better  kind  of  de- 
partment store  has  little  faith  in  them.  Their  "pull" 
is  doubtful.  A  trade  paper  recently  said:  "Advertis- 
ing of  bargains  is  still  printed,  but  the  public  is  almost 
as  impervious  to  them  as  the  side  of  a  battleship  would 
be  to  the  fire  of  a  battery  of  pea  shooters.  The  delu- 
sion still  exists  among  many  merchants  that  this  is  not 
so,  but  no  such  delusion  exists  among  great  mer- 
chants."  This  refers  to  the  period  before  1920. 

Many  prominent  department  store  advertisers 
make  their  appeal  on  the  merit  of  their  goods.  Some 
writers  call  this  regular  advertising,  as  distinguished 
from  bargain  sale  advertising.^  Regular  advertising 
is  based  on  the  idea  that  people  require  certain  goods 
and  that  they  are  willing  to  pay  a  fair  price  for  them. 
Advertisements,  therefore,  should  set  forth  the 
merits  of  these  goods  in  such  an  attractive  fashion 
that  a  natural  desire  for  them  will  be  created.  This 
represents  a  real  and  scientific  endeavor  to  supply 
goods  to  people  who  want  them,  while  the  bargain 
sale  method  is  suspected  of  attempting  to  induce  per- 
sons to  buy  goods  they  do  not  want. 

1  "Making  More  Money  in  Storekeeping"  by  W,  R.  Hotchklss,  Pp.  23S- 
234. 


300  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

REVIEW 

What  is  it  that  the  jobber  should  seek  to  impress  upon  the 
retailer  thru  advertising? 

Why  is  the  trade  paper  the  best  medium  for  jobber  advertis- 
ing?    Why  are  the  national  magazines  the  poorest  medium? 

Show  where  the  average  retail  advertiser  fails  to  get  the  most 
out  of  his  advertising  budget. 

Outline  an  advertising  campaign  for  a  small  retailer  in  a  town 
of  50,000  population.  Write  some  sample  copy  and  also  indicate 
the  media  you  would  select  and  suggest  the  other  kinds  of  copy 
you  would  use. 

How  do  the  advertising  campaigns  conducted  by  chain  stores 
and  those  of  local  department  stores  differ? 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE  CAMPAIGN  AS  A  WHOLE 

1.  Final  problems  of  the  advertiser. — At  the  con- 
clusion of  our  study  of  advertising  campaigns  there 
remain  three  important  things  to  be  considered.  They 
are  not  all  closely  related,  but  for  convenience  they 
are  grouped  together  in  a  final  chapter.  The  first 
of  these  three  subjects  is  the  necessity  of  altering  the 
plans  for  a  campaign  from  time  to  time,  as  unexpected 
conditions  develop,  or  as  results  from  the  original 
plans  dictate  a  realignment  of  the  advertising  forces 
so  as  to  insure  success  of  the  advertiser.  The  second 
subject  is  a  study  of  the  several  ways  of  binding  to- 
gether all  the  various  forces  in  a  campaign.  And  the 
last  is  a  small  group  of  universal  advertising  laws  that 
must  constantly  be  borne  in  mind  by  everyone  who 
hopes  to  build  business  with  the  aid  of  advertising. 

2.  Changing  the  plan  to  bring  results. — It  is  evi- 
dent to  anyone  who  studies  the  variety  of  problems 
that  have  to  be  solved  by  the  man  who  prepares  a  plan 
for  an  advertising  campaign,  that  no  plan  is  infallible. 
There  are  few  definite  rules  of  procedure.  In  only  a 
small  minority  of  instances  can  an  advertiser  say, 
"This  is  what  I  must  do  because  experience  has  proved 

XIII— 21  301 


302  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

it  to  be  the  best  thing  to  do."  But  no  amount  of  study 
can  guard  against  errors  in  human  judgment.  Some 
plans  for  campaigns  are  sure  to  be  wrong,  no  matter 
how  carefully  they  have  been  made. 

The  possibility  of  a  mistake  in  judgment  makes  it 
necessary  for  the  advertiser  to  keep  on  the  watch  con- 
stantly for  indications  that  his  campaign  is  not  doing 
what  is  was  intended  to  do.  If  results  do  not  come, 
if  expenses  amount  alarmingly,  if  new  competition  de- 
velops, or  if  any  one  of  many  other  things  happen, 
it  is  time  for  the  advertiser  to  take  his  plans  apart, 
find  the  weak  point  and  bolster  it  up  if  possible,  or  if 
something  fundamental  is  wrong,  to  discard  the  old 
plans  entirely  and  start  off  afresh  on  a  new  track. 

3.  A  selling  plan  that  was  wrong. — The  campaign 
of  the  Review  of  Reviews  Company  to  sell  the  Photo- 
graphic History  of  the  Civil  War  some  years  ago 
illustrates  admirably  the  necessity  that  often  arises  of 
changing  a  plan  for  a  campaign  after  the  campaign  is 
under  way.  The  Photographic  History  was  a  set  of 
books  containing  reproductions  of  photographs  ac- 
tually taken  during  the  Civil  War.  The  peculiar  na- 
ture of  the  books  offered  unusual  advertising  oppor- 
tunities. Large  space  was  taken  in  magazines  and 
newspapers  and  the  copy  was  excellent.  An  elabo- 
rate follow-up  was  prepared.  The  advertising  cam- 
paign began  almost  before  the  books  were  ready  for 
the  market,  and  continued  on  a  large  scale  for  more 
than  a  year.  The  periodical  advertising  was  not  in- 
tended to  make  sales;  inquiries  only  were  sought,  by 


THE  CAMPAIGN  AS  A  WHOLE  303 

means  of  a  coupon  in  each  advertisement.  It  was  ex- 
pected that  the  follow-up  would  close  the  sales. 

The  coupons  came  in  by  the  thousands,  the  follow- 
up  was  set  to  work,  and  results  eagerly  awaited. 
Many  sales  were  made,  but  they  were  slow  in  coming. 
.Vt  first  this  did  not  greatly  trouble  the  publishers. 
The  man  in  charge  was  experienced  in  the  selling  of 
books  by  mail.  He  did  not  expect  immediate  results, 
because  he  realized  it  takes  time  to  turn  inquiries  into 
sales  without  the  use  of  salesmen.  Furthermore,  he 
knew  that  many  people  would  not  even  send  in  a 
coupon  until  the  cumulative  effect  of  the  advertising 
had  time  to  influence  them. 

Feeling  sure  that  only  time  was  necessary  to  make 
the  carefully  planned  campaign  show  results,  the  man- 
ager went  on  a  vacation  for  a  few  weeks.  When  he 
returned,  instead  of  finding  that  sales  were  materializ- 
ing in  satisfactory  volume,  he  found  only  an  average 
selling  cost  of  thirty  dollars  a  set,  which  was  the  total 
price  paid  by  the  consumer.  Something  had  to  be 
done,  and  done  quickly.  Printers'  Ink  describes  the 
way  in  which  the  problem  was  solved : 

There  was  nothing  serious  the  matter  with  the  copy,  for 
inquiries  were  coming  in  steadily.  The  follow-up  was  com- 
plete and  elaborate,  and  was  being  sent  out  promptly.  But 
something  manifestly  was  wrong,  for  the  number  of  those 
who  had  sent  in  coupons  but  hadn't  ordered  the  books  was  in- 
creasing at  a  stupendous  rate.  Since  tlie  magazine  copy 
seemed  to  be  above  reproach,  the  trouble  must  be  in  the  fol- 
low-up, and  careful  analysis  located  it.  The  follow-up  was 
interesting,  it  was  artistic,  it  was  well  written,  but  it  failed 


304  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

to  give  the  inquirer  an  adequate  impression  of  the  size  and 
comprehensiveness  of  the  edition.  It  stimulated  desire  for 
the  books,  but  not  to  the  extent  of  thirty  dollars'  worth. 
It  was  instantly  recognized  that  the  only  way  to  "cash 
in"  on  cumulative  effect  was  to  give  the  people  the  oppor- 
tunity to  see  the  books  themselves,  since  in  this  way  only 
could  they  be  convinced  of  the  full  value  of  the  goods. 

The  entire  edition  was  turned  over  in  November  to  John 
Wanamaker  and  the  advertising  continued  under  the  name 
of  the  Wanamaker  Book  Club.  The  books  were  conspicu- 
ously displayed  in  the  store,  and  an  easy  payment  plan  of 
purchase  was  inaugurated.  The  results  were  immediately 
Apparent,  and  the  profits  arrived  on  schedule.  During  the 
first  twenty  days  of  April,  the  sales  aggregated  five-elevenths 
of  the  total  sales  during  the  entire  campaign.  In  other 
words,  out  of  a  total  sale  of  some  forty  thousand  sets,  nearly 
half  were  sold  during  the  last  twenty  days.  Of  course  there 
is  nothing  to  prove  that  the  results  would  not  have  come  if 
the  course  originally  followed  had  been  adhered  to,  but  the 
probabilities  are  strongly  against  it.  What  made  the  differ- 
ence between  success  and  probable  failure  was  the  disposition 
to  find  out  what  was  really  the  matter. 

4.  Adapting  campaign  to  local  conditions. — An  ad- 
vertising and  selling  plan  seldom  has  to  be  changed 
entirely  after  it  has  once  been  undertaken.  Often, 
however,  it  must  be  adjusted  in  some  minor  way  to 
meet  changed  conditions.  Usually  the  adjustment 
involves  added  sales  activity  at  some  points  and  re- 
arranged plans  for  local  advertising  at  other  points. 
The  general  plans  fw  an  advertising  and  sales  cam- 
paign may  be  justified  by  the  general  business  condi- 
tions in  the  country,  and  yet  the  varying  conditions 
in  different  localities  may  make  necessary  a  rapid 
shift  in  some  of  the  attempts  to  link  up  national  ad- 


THE  CAMPAIGN  AS  A  WHOLE  305 

vertising  with  intensive  work  on  dealers  and  con- 
sumers in  individual  towns. 

There  are  many  sources  of  information  for  the  ad- 
vertiser who  wants  to  keep  in  close  touch  with  local 
business  conditions  to  the  end  that  he  may  spend  his 
money  in  the  places  where  it  is  most  needed  and 
where  it  will  do  the  most  good.  Chief  reliance  is  or- 
dinarily placed  on  the  reports  of  salesmen.  If  sales- 
men are  trained  obseners,  valuable  information  can 
be  obtained  from  them  about  the  business  of  the  mer- 
chants in  the  towns  they  visit.  Such  information 
should  be  carefully  weighed,  however;  some  salesmen 
are  inclined  to  report  conditions  poor,  as  an  excuse 
for  small  sales,  or  because  in  their  own  line  things  are 
generally  slow,  when  other  lines  are  not  affected. 

The  commercial  agencies  can  be  of  great  help  in 
picturing  business  conditions  in  different  sections  of 
the  country.  The  advertiser  who  tries  to  get  inquiries 
or  to  make  sales  by  mail  can  often  ascertain  condi- 
tions in  different  localities  by  comparing  returns  from 
these  advertisements,  place  by  place  and  month  by 
month. 

5.  Unifying  the  campaign. — An  advertising  cam- 
paign is  deserving  of  the  name  only  when  all  parts 
of  it  work  together  for  a  common  end,  and  when  they 
are  so  related  that  there  is  no  conflict,  no  lack  of  har- 
mony, but  simply  a  smoothly  running  piece  of  sales 
machinery  with  a  definite  function  and  a  definite  place 
for  each  cog  and  each  wheel.  Advertising  has  suf- 
fered in  the  past  because  of  the  failure  to  give  a  com- 


306  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

mon  characteristic  to  all  the  publicity  of  a  given  ad- 
vertiser, and  because  of  a  lack  of  appreciation  of  the 
fact  that  advertising  and  sales  must  be  closely  co- 
ordinated if  there  is  to  be  maximum  efficiency  and 
minimum  waste.  The  careful  advertiser  gives  his  at- 
tention to  four  problems  in  coordination.  (1)  He 
sees  to  it  that  all  his  advertising  has  an  individuality 
that  binds  the  whole  together  into  a  single  effective 
sales  weapon.  (2)  He  makes  sure  that  his  sales- 
men believe  in  his  advertising  and  that  they  work 
with  it  instead  of  against  it.  (3)  He  shows  dealers 
( if  he  sells  thru  dealers )  how  to  tie  up  their  own  store 
display  and  their  own  newspaper  advertising  to  his 
efforts  to  bring  consumers  into  their  stores.  (4)  He 
organizes  his  own  factory  and  office  so  as  to  insure 
that  every  member  of  his  organization  personifies  the 
spirit  and  policy  of  his  publicity.  The  first  of  these 
problems  in  coordinating  the  parts  of  the  campaign 
was  considered  in  detail  in  Chapter  IV. 

6.  "Selling^*  the  advertising  to  the  salesmen. — 
Many  salesmen  do  not  understand  the  purpose  and 
the  methods  of  advertising.  Sometimes  they  suspect 
that  the  increasing  importance  of  advertising  means 
the  decreasing  importance  of  the  salesman.  It  is 
necessary,  therefore,  for  the  advertiser  to  be  sure  that 
his  salesmen  not  only  understand  the  function  of  ad- 
vertising in  general,  but  also  that  they  are  fully  in 
sympathy  with  the  purposes  of  his  o^n  publicity. 

This  attitude  of  some  salesmen  toward  advertising 
is  not  unnatural.     In  the  past,  the  advertising  man 


THE  CAMPAIGN  AS  A  WHOLE  307 

has  not  been  a  part  of  the  sales  organization;  he  fre- 
quently made  his  plans  without  consulting  the  sales 
department.  Under  this  illogical  arrangement  the 
salesmen  often  were  not  told  of  the  advertising  plans 
in  advance;  they  did  not  know  what  advertising  was 
to  be  done  imtil  they  saw  the  advertisements  them- 
selves or  until  dealers  called  attention  to  them.  Nat- 
urally the  salesmen  resented  being  left  out  of  the 
plans ;  their  lack  of  knowledge  of  the  activities  of  the 
house  reflected  adversely  on  them  and  on  their  em- 
ployer. The  modern  executive  avoids  these  unfor- 
tunate conditions,  either  by  putting  personal  sales- 
manship and  advertising  under  the  supervision  of  the 
same  man,  or  by  insisting  that  all  advertising  plans 
be  worked  out  in  cooperation  with  the  sales  depart- 
ment, and  by  taking  steps  to  see  that  the  salesmen  are 
told  about  the  advertising,  that  they  believe  in  it  and 
use  it  in  every  possible  way  to  increase  their  sales. 

Advertising  is  "sold"  to  salesmen  in  a  variety  of 
ways.  At  sales  conventions  it  is  customary  to  have 
the  advertising  manager  explain  in  detail  the  plans 
of  the  coming  season,  to  answer  questions,  and  to  ob- 
tain the  enthusiastic  cooperation  of  the  salesmen. 
House  organs  are  often  used  to  tell  the  men  about 
the  advertising,  to  explain  the  purpose  of  it  and  to 
show  them  how  the  salesmen  can  make  the  most  of  it. 
Some  advertisers  go  so  far  as  to  explain  in  detail  to 
salesmen,  thru  the  house  organ,  the  reasons  why  the 
diff*erent  advertising  mediums  are  used. 

The  most  conunon  method  of  keeping  the  salesmen 


308  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

in  touch  with  the  advertising  is  to  send  copies  of  ad- 
vertisements to  the  men  in  the  field  for  their  own  in- 
formation, and  also  to  help  them  in  explaining  the 
campaign  to  dealers. 

The  tactful  advertising  manager  is  often  able  to  ask 
advice  from  salesmen,  and  to  retain  their  interest  and 
cooperation  by  showing  them  the  reasons  for  his  con- 
clusions, even  if  he  finds  it  necessary  to  reject  their 
suggestions. 

7.  "Selling"  the  advertising  to  dealers. — When 
goods  are  distributed  thru  dealers,  there  is  bound  to 
be  waste  in  the  advertising  unless  dealers  are  familiar 
with  it  and  use  it  in  every  possible  way  to  increase  the 
sale  of  the  advertiser's  goods.  It  was  pointed  out 
in  Chapter  XVI  that  the  dealer's  cooperation  cannot 
be  expected  unless  the  advertised  goods  are  of  good 
quality  and  carry  a  satisfactory  profit  for  him.  If 
these  conditions  are  fulfilled,  then  efforts  should  be 
made  to  tie  up  the  dealer  and  the  advertising  in  such 
a  way  that  one  will  supplement  the  other.  Dealers 
should  be  informed  of  the  advertising  that  is  to  ap- 
pear. This  information  may  come  either  by  mail  or 
thru  the  salesmen.  Salesmen  often  carry  portfolios 
showing  future  advertisements,  schedules  of  media, 
circulation  of  media  by  states  and  by  towns,  and  other 
information  designed  to  interest  the  dealer  in  the 
campaign  and  to  enable  him  to  coordinate  his  sales 
efforts  with  the  local  and  national  advertising  of  the 
manufacturer.  Then,  just  before  any  advertisement 
is  to  appear,  the  dealer  receives  a  reminder  from  the 


THE  CAMPAIGN  AS  A  WHOLE  309 

manufacturer.  In  this  way  the  dealer  can  arrange 
to  make  a  display  of  the  goods  to  take  advantage  of 
the  advertising,  or  he  can  advertise  under  his  own 
name,  in  the  papers  or  by  signs  in  his  window,  that 
he  is  the  distributor  for  the  advertised  goods.  An- 
other method  of  linking  up  the  dealer  and  the  na- 
tional advertising  is  to  furnish  the  dealer  with  cuts 
that  are  similar  to  the  ones  used  in  the  manufacturer's 
advertising. 

8.  Putting  the  organization  behind  the  campaign. 
— An  advertising  campaign  is  the  expression  of  the 
advertiser's  sales  policy.  It  is  his  most  important  way 
of  talking  to  the  public  and  of  telling  them  about 
himself  and  his  goods.  But  it  is  not  the  only  way. 
Kvery  letter  that  goes  out  from  a  business  establish- 
ment advertises  that  establishment.  It  creates  a  good 
or  a  bad  impression,  and  the  bad  impression  may  be 
so  bad  that  no  amount  of  general  advertising  can 
remove  it.  Ever}'  time  an  employe  of  a  business 
house  comes  into  contact  with  the  public  he  helps  or 
he  hurts  his  employer.  Xo  matter  how  casual  may 
be  the  personal  contact  between  visitors  and  employes 
of  the  store,  office  or  factory,  every  time  there  is  any 
personal  contact  the  visitor  receives  a  good  or  a  bad 
impression  of  the  house  that  the  employe  represents. 
The  factory  can  nullify  thousands  of  dollars'  worth  of 
advertising  by  failing  to  turn  out  satisfactory  goods, 
by  failing  to  take  proper  care  of  orders,  by  failing  to 
make  prompt  deliveries  and  by  failing  to  do  many 
other  things  which  good  service  demands. 


310  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

It  is  not  a  difficult  matter  to  tell  the  public  about 
high  ideals,  courteous  service,  careful  attention  to 
orders,  good  products  and  honest  treatment,  but  it 
is  often  a  very  difficult  matter  to  be  sure  that  every 
employe  of  the  advertiser  lives  up  to  the  spirit  and 
policy  behind  the  advertising.  The  advertiser  who 
fails  to  see  that  all  the  members  of  his  internal  and 
sales  organization  are  imbued  with  his  ideals  and  that 
they  do  their  best  to  back  up  the  advertising,  is  failing 
in  a  very  important  respect  in  coordinating  the  various 
things  that  go  to  make  up  a  successful  advertising 
campaign. 

One  advertiser  says,  "I  want  every  one  of  my  ad- 
vertisements to  be  so  written  that,  when  they  are 
shown  to  my  employes,  everyone  in  my  plant  from 
the  office  boy  to  the  most  skilled  engineer  will  feel 
a  pride  in  the  organization."  He  realizes  that  no 
matter  how  good  may  be  the  quality  of  the  raw  ma- 
terial, the  quality  of  the  finished  product  depends  on 
the  skill  and  intelligence  of  the  labor,  and  skill  and 
intelligence  will  be  exercised  to  the  degree  that  the 
workers  take  pride  in  their  tasks.  There  are  many 
instances  in  which  the  spirit  of  an  organization  has 
been  greatly  improved  by  inspiring  in  the  employes 
the  desire  to  live  up  to  the  spirit  and  promises  of  the 
advertising. 

9.  Ttvo  fundamental  latvs  of  advertising. — There 
are  two  basic  laws  which  every  advertising  man  should 
understand  and  apply  to  his  advertising  campaign. 
While  both  have  already  been  referred  to  in  a  gen- 


THE  CAMPAIGN  AS  A  WHOLE  311 

eral  way,  we  have  left  a  detailed  discussion  of  them 
for  the  last  chapter,  so  they  may  have  the  emphasis 
that  they  deserve.  The  first  is  a  law  of  economics; 
the  second  is  a  law  of  psychology-.  The  first  is  the 
law  of  diminishing  returns.  The  second  is  the  law 
of  repetition  and  cumulative  effect.  In  a  sense  they 
are  two  balancing  forces.  They  are  to  advertising 
wliat  centrifugal  and  centripetal  force  respectively  are 
to  physics.  The  first  limits  the  advertiser.  The  sec- 
ond provides  him  with  his  opportunity. 

10.  The  point  of  diminishing  returns. — The  funda- 
mental law  of  diminishing  returns  applies  to  adver- 
tising as  well  as  to  agriculture  or  any  other  indus- 
try. While  in  agriculture  the  quantity  of  product 
diminishes  per  unit  of  capital  and  labor,  in  advertis- 
ing this  diminution  is  in  the  value  of  the  product. 

Doubtless  there  are  few  advertisers  who  could  not, 
by  increasing  their  advertising  budget,  increase  the 
number  of  inquiries  or  sales.  But,  after  a  certain 
point  has  been  passed,  they  cannot  do  this  except  at 
an  increased  cost  per  inquiry  or  sale.  For  example, 
one  advertisement  might  bring  in  1,000  inquiries; 
two  advertisements,  3,000  inquiries;  three  advertise- 
ments might  even  bring  in  10,000  inquiries.  But  this 
proportionate  increase  in  the  number  of  inquiries  over 
advertisements  cannot  go  on  indefinitely.  At  some 
point  the  number  of  inquiries  per  advertisement  must 
decline,  altho  the  total  number  of  inquiries  may  con- 
tiruie  to  increase.  Tliis  is  the  point  of  diminishing 
returns,  and  the  employment  of  additional  advertise 


312  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

merits  will  bring  about  a  decrease  in  the  percentage 
of  profit  on  the  investment. 

The  sales  department  is  subject  to  the  same  law. 
Every  time  you  add  a  salesman  to  your  payroll  you 
have  to  add  an  additional  expense  for  supervision — 
an  additional  expense  in  teaching  that  salesman  how 
to  drive  in  the  team  with  the  other  salesmen.  A  busi- 
ness man  who  is  his  own  salesman  requires  no  super- 
vision. When  he  adds  another  man  to  help  him  sell, 
he  is  required  to  spend  part  of  his  time  supervising 
the  sales  of  the  other  man  and  teaching  him  the  busi- 
ness. When  he  has  added  four  or  five  salesmen,  he 
finds  that  they  require  so  much  supervision  that  he 
is  compelled  to  give  up  selling  himself,  and  to  spend 
all  his  time  supervising  and  directing  the  efforts  of 
his  salesmen  in  order  to  develop  proper  team  work. 

Then  as  the  business  grows,  there  comes  a  time 
when  there  is  no  possibility  of  increased  sales  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood;  in  order  to  develop,  the 
business  must  branch  out  into  new  fields.  This  calls 
for  traveling  expenses  for  salesmen,  which  perhaps 
doubles  the  former  sales  expense  without  bringing 
anything  like  proportionate  returns.  The  point  of 
diminishing  returns  has  been  reached. 

Thus  it  is  with  all  business.  As  supervision  and 
territory  are  added,  expenses  increase  faster  than  re- 
turns. Even  volume  ultimately  reaches  a  limit. 
There  comes  a  point  when  the  amount  of  additional 
expense  required  is  exactly  equal  to  the  return  that 
will  be  received.     This  is  the  point  of  diminishing 


THE  CAMPAIGN  AS  A  WHOLE  313 

returns.  Beyond  this  point  it  is  unprofitable  to  pro- 
ceed. If  it  were  not  for  this  law,  the  fact  that  an  ad- 
vertising expenditure  of  $1,500,000  brought  the 
Procter  and  Gamble  Company  $83,000,000  worth 
of  business,  might  persuade  the  company  to  spend 
$3,000,000  or  $6,000,000  in  advertising  the  coming 
year  on  the  theory  that  the  increased  expenditure 
would  bring  $166,000,000  or  $332,000,000  worth  of 
business. 

Every  advertising  campaign  has  before  it  a  point 
of  diminishing  returns.  It  is  farther  away  in  some 
businesses  than  in  others.  When  there  is  a  strong  ele- 
ment of  "repeat"  in  an  article,  the  point  of  diminish- 
ing returns  may  be  far  in  the  future. 

Indications  that  a  business  is  approaching  the  point 
of  diminishing  returns  may  be  found  in  the  steady 
rise  of  the  cost  per  inquiry  and  the  steady  rise  of  the 
cost  per  sale.  The  day  when  increased  expenditure 
will  not  bring  adequate  returns  may  be  postponed  in 
some  cases.  The  field  of  operations  may  be  extended, 
or  new  products  may  be  added  which  will  carry  pres- 
tige already  established  and  which  can  be  sold  with- 
out much  additional  sales  expense.  But  if  progress 
continues,  the  point  of  diminishing  returns  is  bound 
to  be  reached  sooner  or  later  in  ever\^  business.  That 
increased  expenditure  for  advertising  cannot  continu- 
ally bring  increased  returns  is  no  indictment  of  the 
power  of  advertising.  It  is  a  fundamental  law  of 
economics. 

11.  Cumulative  effect  of  repetition. — The  second  of 


314  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

the  two  laws  of  advertising  that  we  are  considering 
has  a  dh-eot  bearing  on  the  necessity  of  coordinating 
all  the  parts  of  an  advertising  campaign.  It  rests 
on  two  laws  of  human  nature.  The  first  says:  "At- 
tention and  interest  cannot  be  maintained  except  mo- 
mentarily on  a  stimulus  that  remains  absolutely  the 
same."  There  must  be  something  new  and  changing 
about  it.  The  reader  can,  of  course,  voluntarily  force 
his  attention  for  a  brief  period  on  an  advertisement, 
but  such  attention  cannot  be  continued  long  unless  the 
object  reveals  some  suggestion  or  idea  that  is  of  new 
interest  to  him. 

The  other  law  states :  "Attention  and  interest  can- 
not be  maintained  on  a  stimulus  which  is  absolutely 
without  meaning — a  stimulus  of  which  the  reader  has 
had  no  previous  cognizance."  We  must  have  some 
link  with  a  past  experience  by  which  we  can  com- 
pare a  present  experience,  or  else  we  immediately  lose 
interest. 

Ever\i;hing  that  holds  our  attention  and  interest 
must  Irave  two  elements — an  element  of  the  old  and 
an  element  of  the  new — an  element  of  repetition  and 
an  elemen-t  of  novelty.  The  most  engrossing  and  in- 
teresting experiences  are  new  experiences  in  old  sur- 
roundings or  old  experiences  in  new  surroundings. 
If  the  experiences  and  surroundings  are  both  new  we 
lose  interest,  just  as  we  tire  if  the  experiences  and 
surroundings  are  both  old  and  have  become  common- 
place to  us.  Our  continued  interest  in  any  object 
depends  partly  on  our  familiarity  and  association  with 


THE  CAMPAIGN  AS  A  WHOLE  316 

that  object,  and  these  in  turn  depend  on  repeated  con- 
tact with  it. 

It  is  the  same  with  advertisements  as  with  anything 
else  that  claims  our  attention.  We  welcome  the  ad- 
vertisements of  Ivorj'  Soap  and  Cream  of  Wheat  as 
old  friends.  Nd  two  of  them  are  quite  the  same,  and 
yet  there  is  something  about  every  one  that  causes 
ready  recognition  and  that  induces  growing  interest 
and  good-will.  The  advertiser  should  strive  to  make 
the  reader  regard  his  advertisements  as  he  regards  his 
friends.  We  expect  a  friend  always  to  have  the  same 
color  of  hair,  the  same  features,  the  same  height  and 
the  same  mannerisms.  These  things  remain  constant, 
but  other  things  about  him  chenge.  He  does  not  al- 
ways wear  the  same  clothing.  He  does  not  always 
talk  about  the  same  things.  If  he  is  a  friend  worth 
having,  he  is  likely  to  bring  to  you  some  new  idea  every 
time  you  meet  him.  Each  contact  with  him  develops 
a  better  understanding.  If  his  ideas  are  always  good, 
his  manner  always  pleasant,  his  sincerity  always  evi- 
dent, each  meeting  will  add  to  your  respect  for  him; 
and  the  more  you  respect  him,  the  more  willing  you 
will  be  to  act  on  his  suggestions.  So  it  is  with  adver- 
tisements. Their  success  depends  largely  on  their 
persistence,  on  the  readiness  with  which  the  reader 
recognizes  them,  and  on  the  amount  of  respect  that 
he  is  made  to  feel  for  the  advertiser  and  the  adver- 
tiser's goods. 

12.  The  fnmihf  resemblance  of  (ulvertisevienta. — A 
noted  psychologist  once  said:     "It  i*<  the  generic  fam- 


316  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

ily  resemblance  that  some  of  the  great  national  ad- 
vertisers adhere  to  in  their  advertisements  which  gives 
the  cumulative  inheritance  of  power."  Many  adver- 
tisers are  unable  to  comprehend  this  principle.  There 
is  no  coordination  in  their  advertising  campaigns. 
Their  advertisements  inherit  no  power  from  their 
predecessors.  Their  advertisements  do  not  look  alike. 
But  above  this,  their  advertisements  are  not  so  con- 
structed as  to  transmit  any  power.  They  urge  one 
thing  today  and  another  thing  tomorrow.  In  the 
advertisements  of  today  they  make  claims  which  they 
contradict  or  prove  falsfe  in  the  statements  they  make 
tomorrow.  They  have  no  consistency  either  in  ap- 
pearance or  purpose.  They  live  from  hand  to  mouth. 
It  is  these  advertisers  who  most  quickly  find  the  point 
of  diminishing  returns.  They  are  building  not  on  a 
solid  foundation  but  on  sand. 

The  first  way  to  give  advertisements  that  subtle 
something  which  we  call  character  and  which  the  psy- 
chologist calls  generic  family  resemblance  is  to  build 
them  on  fundamental  business  policy.  Many  organ- 
izations do  not  know  that  they  have  business  policies 
until  they  begin  to  prepare  advertisements.  There 
are  certain  policies  of  honesty  and  fair  dealing  which 
should  be  fundamental  with  any  organization.  There 
are  other  policies  of  trade  developed  with  experience. 
Each  year  new  policies  develop  or  changes  are  needed 
in  old  ones.  Each  year  the  far-sighted  employer  sets 
down  the  policies  of  his  organization  and  endeavors 
to  express  them  in  his  advertising  campaign. 


THE  CAMPAIGN  AS  A  WHOLE  317 

The  other  method  of  obtaining  and  retaining  char- 
acter in  all  the  advertisements  of  a  campaign  is  in  the 
physical  make-up.  This,  too,  may  change  from  year 
to  year,  just  as  a  man  may  change  his  style  of  dress 
as  he  grows  older.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  one 
concern  will  use  the  same  style  of  border  or  the  same 
type  in  all  its  adv^ertisements  year  in  and  year  out. 
But  there  should  be  something  which  carries  the  read- 
er's mind  from  advertisement  to  advertisement — 
something  w^hich  provides  the  connecting  link  between 
present  and  past  experience,  while  offering  oppor- 
tunity for  the  constant  change  that  is  necessary  to 
hold  attention. 

In  Chapter  IV  we  listed  thirteen  ways  in  which 
advertisers  can  give  physical  unity  to  their  campaigns. 
There  should  be  no  haphazard  choice  of  one  of  these 
distinguishing  features  of  a  campaign.  Whatever  is 
chosen  should  have  a  real  meaning.  The  finding  of 
that  meaning  is  one  of  the  arts  of  advertising. 

Perhaps  you  know  a  man  who  always  wears  a  broad- 
brimmed  felt.  The  wearing  of  that  hat  is  a  part  of 
his  personality.  When  you  think  of  him  you  think  of 
the  hat.  They  seem  to  belong  together.  Other  men, 
possibly,  wishing  to  emulate  him,  wear  the  same  sort 
of  hat.  Their  efforts  are  incongruous.  Instead  of 
adoj)ting  the  distinguishing  outward  characteristic  of 
another  individual,  they  should  wear  the  hat  that  best 
merges  into  their  own  peculiarities  of  face,  stature  and 
character.  So  it  is  witli  advertisements.  The  physi- 
cal make-up  as  well  as  the  message  of  the  advertise- 

XIII— 22 


318  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 

ment  must  represent  the  character  of  the  advertiser 
and  his  organization. 

Advertising  is  expression.  It  is  more  than  words 
on  paper.  Advertisements  are  the  representatives  of 
the  organizations  paying  for  them.  They  should  be 
hke  those  organizations,  look  hke  them,  Hve  like  them. 

A  truly  successful  advertising  campaign  is  not  de- 
veloped by  formula.  It  is  an  expression  of  char- 
acter. And  in  so  far  as  that  character  is  strong,  as 
that  character  is  steadfast,  as  that  character  is  true, 
to  that  extent,  and  to  that  extent  only,  may  the  cam- 
paign be  expected  to  succeed. 

REVIEW 

Specifically  what  is  meant  by  coordinating  all  the  parts  of  an 
advertising  campaign?  If  you  were  planning  a  campaign,  what 
different  problems  in  coordination  would  you  have  to  solve? 
How  would  you  solve  them  in  your  business? 

How  can  advertising  react  on  the  advertiser  and  his  employes  ? 

Why  cannot  increased  investments  in  advertising  continue  in- 
definitely to  bring  profitable  business? 

Do  you  believe  in  the  business-building  power  of  honest,  con- 
sistent, persistent,  interesting,  attractive  advertising?  Could 
it  be  profitably  used  in  the  business  with  which  you  are  con- 
nected? Many  businesses  have  entered  new  eras  of  develop- 
ment after  giving  careful  consideration  to  this  question. 

Note:  Numerous  questions  of  business  practice  and  procedure  are 
discussed  in  detail  in  the  Modern  Business  Reports.  The  current  list 
will  show  those  which  are  especially  related  to  this  volume.  Among 
ihem  may  be  mentioned 

32     Advertising  on  Small  Appropriations 
36    Distribution  of  Advertising  Matter  Thru  the  Central  ©r 
Local  OflBce. 


APPENDIX 

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1.    Organization  of  an  Advertising  Agency 


310 


320 


ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGNS 


STEPS  IN  CONDUCTING  AN  ADVERTISING  CAMPAIGN 


A    I  INVESTIGATING  t 1      SERVICE 


B    I  PLANNING 


C     I  PRODUCING 


D    1  OPERATING 


1 1  Clientl 
I*? I  Librarvl 
131  Field  I 
141  Advertising! 


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Id  Sketch^ 
111  Copy  i 

121  Drawing 

13 1  Ctienfr  approuarl 

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151  Composition  I 
161  Print  I 
171  Electrotypet 
51  Shipl 

19|Order| 
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|71|  CoJt  keepin^l 
11  Check  I 
731  BUM 
741  Collect] 
231  Pay  I 


service"! — 1761  Record  rexult) 

3.    An  Advertising  Campaign 


APPENDIX 


321 


KINDS    OF   ADVERTISING    MEDIA 


A  iPIKECT 


B   [PUBLICATIONS 


C    ISIGNS 


1  iLeiiersl 


Sampling  mcL  demonstrating  J 


PooMeta  dnciQTc\ila.Ts\ 


House  Organs 


NewypapCTsI 


jAa.^a2lnes\ 


Farm  Papecr] 


Trade  TecnnlcdlCiass  Papers  [ 


Foreign  1  an^^uage  Papers  | 


DtrecioriRy  awrf  Programs  | 


3.    Classiftcation  of  Advertising  Media 


INDEX 


Advertising  AgsnclM,  84-108 

What  an  agency  is,  84;  What  it 
tloes.  86:  Its  history,  88;  Pub- 
lishers' representatives,  90 ;  Agen- 
cy's serTice.  90-94 ;  To  publish- 
ers. 90;  To  adTertisera,  92;  Out- 
siders' Tiewpoint,  94 ;  Organization, 
94;  Operation.  96:  Obtaining  in- 
formation. 97:  Planning  cam- 
paign. 98 :  Producing  advertise- 
ments. 100;  Relation  to  advertiser, 
101 :  Compensation,  102 :  "Recog- 
nition, 105;  How  secured,  106 
AdYortislng  Agency, 

Relation    to    advertising    department, 
82 
Advertising    Appropriations,     34—50 

Purpose  determines  outlay,  34 ;  Rec- 
ords, 34 ;  Time  to  produce  effects, 
35:  Reaping  fruits  of.  37;  Basis 
expected  sales,  38 ;  Basis,  possible 
purchasers,  39:  Basis,  available 
capital,  40:  Cost  per  inquiry,  41; 
Basis,  profits  previous  year,  42 ; 
Basis,  amount  previous  year,  43 ; 
Basis,  space  desired.  44 ;  Basis, 
proportion  of  gross  sales,  45 ;  Re- 
tailers' appropriations.  46;  Proper 
percentage.  47 :  Apportioning  ap- 
propriation. 49 
Advertising  Department,  68-83 

Director's  duties.  68 ;  Requirements 
for  manager.  69 ;  Responsibility. 
70;  Functions  of  department.  71; 
Organization  systems,  73 ;  Large 
departments.  "74 :  Small  depart- 
ments, 77 ;  Territorial  depart- 
ments. 78 :  Cooperation  with  sales 
department.  79 ;  Obtaining  in- 
formation, 81 ;  Relations  to  agency, 
H2 
Advertising  MedU,    109-133 

Variety  of.  109;  One  not  sufficient, 
110:  Definition,  110;  Selection, 
111;  Circulation.  112;  Kinds  of, 
115:  Three  general  classes,  ,1 1 4  ; 
Direct  media,  115-120;  letters. 
115;  Sampling  and  demonstrating. 
116:  Booklets.  116:  Catalogs. 
117:  House  organs.  118:  Novelties, 
119;    Periodicals.   121-126;   News- 


Ad  vertiaing  MedU— continued 

papers,  121;  Magazines,  122; 
Farm  journals,  123 ;  Trade  and 
class  papers,  124:  Foreign  lan- 
guage papers,  125;  Directories, 
125;  Signs,  126-132;  Dealers' 
signs.  127;  Posters.  127;  Painted 
bulletins,  128;  Electric  signs,  129; 
Railway  signs,  130:  Theater  signs, 
121;  VThy  not  more  media,  132 
See  also  Circulation,  Weighing 

Advertising  Policy,  of  periodicals.   160 

American  Association  of  Advertising 
Agencies,   S4,    103,    107 

American  Telephone  and  Telegraph 
Comp&ny,  good  will  advertising. 
274 

Arrow  Collars,  2 

Associated  Advertising  Clnbs  of  the 
World,  Use  parades,  223 

Audit  Bateau  of  Oirculation, 
Ascertain  circulation,  113 
Determines  its  character,   145 


Bemls  Bag  Company,  Advertises  flonr, 

243 
Booklets,    116 

Burroughs  Adding  Machine  Company, 
Advprtising    department    methods.    74 
Bnrson     Knitting     Company,     display, 
215 


California  Fruit  Orowers*  Exchange, 
Window   trims.    212;    Advertising   an 
industry.    277 

Campaign  as  a  Whole,  301-318 

Problems.  301;  Fallibility  of  plans, 
301 ;  Wrong  judgment  illustrated, 
302;  Local  conditions  control,  304; 
Unifying  the  campaign,  305;  Sales- 
man's attitude.  306;  Selling  adver- 
tising to  dealers.  308;  Organiza- 
tions place  in.  309:  Fundamental 
laws.  310;  Diminishing  returns, 
311:  Effect  of  repetition  cumula- 
tivp.  313;  Resemblance  of  adver- 
tisement to  predecessor.  315 

Catalogs,    As    an    advertising    medium, 
117 


323 


324 


INDEX 


Chain-store  AdvertlBlng, 

Development,  295 ;  Features  price, 
296;  Methods,  296 

Charts, 

Agency  Organization,  319 ;  Campaign 
operations,  320 ;  Classes  of  media, 
321 

Circulation, 

Of  different  media,  112 ;  Policy  of 
periodicals,    158 

Circulation,  Weighing,   134-152 

Value  of  the  medium,  134;  Cost  per 
purchaser,  135 ;  Typical  purchas' 
ers.  137;  Geographical  conditions, 
138;  Social  conditions,  140;  Cir 
eulation  statements,  142;  His- 
tory of,  144 ;  Duplication,  145 
Extent  of,  147 ;  Subscription  price 
as  indicator  of  purchasing  power, 
148;  Flat  rate,  150;  Preferred 
position,  150;  When  to  use,  151 

Class  Publications, 

As  an  advertising  medium,  124;  Use 
of,  204 

Cluett-Peabody  Company,  2 

Coca-Cola,    Amount    spent    in    advertis- 
ing, 39;  Use  of  local  papers,  197 

Colors, 

Identifying  articles,  55 ;  Identifying 
advertisements,    64 

Competition  and  Demand,  See  Demand 
and  Competition,  Analysis  of 

Cooperation, 

Advertising   and   sales,   79 

Counter  Display,   213 

Crissey  Forrest,   on   Educational  value 
of  advertising,   12 

Curtlss      Company,      Advertising      air- 
planes, 20 


Dayton       Engineering       Laboratories 
Company,  Advertising  methods,   38 

Dealer, 

Advantage  from  national  advertis- 
ing, 8;  Signs  for,  127;  Attitude 
towards  the  advertising  campaign, 
308 
Dealer  Cooperation,  Campaign  for,  236- 
252 
Dealer's  attitude,  236;  Cooperation 
periods,  237:  Bluff  and  force.  238; 
Goodwill  secured.  238:  Quality 
affects  trade.  240  ;  Profit  and  quick 
turnover,  241;  Educational  meth- 
ods help,  241;  Related  products, 
243:  "Dealer's  helps,"  three  kinds 
of.  244 ;  Newspaper  helps,  valu- 
able. 245 :  Manufacturers  pro- 
mote advertising  methods,  246 ; 
Direct  advertising  assistance,  248; 


Dealer  Cooperation — continued 

Manufacturer's  consumer  adver- 
tising, 249 ;  Experience  of  South- 
ern Cypress  Manufacturers'  Asso- 
ciation, 250 ;  Meeting  advertisers 
half-way,  251 

Demand  and  Competition,  Analysis  of, 
18-33 
Preliminaries  of  Campaign,  18;  De- 
veloping demand,  19 ;  Education, 
19 ;  Advertising  demand.  20 ;  Re- 
peat element,  22  ;  Seasons  in  adver- 
tising, 24;  Competition,  25:  Com- 
paring good-will.  26;  Comparing 
advertising.  27;  Study  of  com- 
petitors' methods,  29 ;  Comparing 
sales  policies,  30 ;  Freight  advan- 
tages, 31;  Importance  of  compe- 
tition,  31 

Demonstrating, 

As   an   advertising  medium,    116 

■    See   Sampling 

Department  Store  Advertising, 

Extent.       297;       Media      for,      297; 
Methods  of  appeal,   298 

Des  Moines,  City  advertising,  278 

Direct  Advertising, 

Prestige  of  media,   153 ;   Helping  the 

dealers,    248 
See  Letters 

Directories, 

As     an     advertising     medium,     125 ; 
Use   of,    207 

Diminishing    Returns    in    Advertising, 
Point  of,  311 

Distribution,  Campaigns  to  Obtain, 
225-235 
Classes  of,  225 ;  Advertising  preced- 
ing, 225 :  Small  scale  beginnings, 
227;  Flour  campaign,  228;  Arti- 
cles of  limited  consumption,  231; 
Overstocking,  231;  Advertising  pre- 
ceded by,  232;  Good- will  an  asset, 
234 

Duplication, 

Of    periodical    circulation,    145 ;    Ex- 
tent of,  147 


Editorial    Policy,    of    periodicals,    and 

l>restige,    157 
Educational  Campaigns, 

Specific     objects     of,      12 ;      Helping 
dealer  and  his  salesmen,  241 
Electric  Signs, 

As   an   advertising  medium,   129 


Family  of  Products, 

Repeat    element,    22 


INDEX 


32a 


Farm  Joornals, 

As     an     advertising     medinm,     128; 
r»e   of.    202 
Follow-Up  Msthods, 

Fac'U    reiatiDK    to    competitors,    29; 
Tests  of,   177 
Foroign  Language  Publications, 

As  an  advertising  medium.   125;  Um 
of.  204 
Form  Lettara,  166 


Good    Housekeaping,    Advertising    pol- 
icy, 163 
Oood-wlll, 

Factor  in  competition,  26 


Latters.   etc.^-continued 

Circular  and  form  letters,  166;  Ad- 
vantages of  mail  campaigns,  166: 
Uses  of  direct  advertising,  168; 
Compiling  the  mailing  list,  169 ; 
Getting  it  correct,  172 ;  Keeping 
up-to-date,  173;  Filing  cards,  174; 
Selling  thru  the  list,  175;  Raking 
it,  175;  Trial  campaign.  176; 
Tests  of  follow  up,  177 ;  Averaging 
a  series,    179 

Llndstrom-Smltb  Company, 
Mail    order    advertising,    268 

Literary  Digest,   2 

Log  Cabin  Maple  Syrup, 
Form  of  container,  54 


Hart,   Scbaffner  and  Marx,  15 

Retailers'   experience.   46 
Holzbauer,    Charles,    on    counter    dis- 
play.  215 
House  Organs, 

Aa  an  advertising  medium,  118 


Identification,  Methods  of,  52-67 

Individuality,    52 ;    In    packages,    53 ; 
Methods      of      identification,      54; 
Shape.   54 ;   Color,   55 ;   Identifying 
advertisement,      56 ;      Names     and 
Trade-marks,    58 ;    Typical    charac- 
ters,   60;    When    inadvisable,    62 
Slogans,      requirements      of,       62 
Typography  as  means  of  identifica 
tion.   63;   Style.   64;    Position,   64 
Value  of  different  methods,   65 

ZngersoU,  W.  H.,  On  advertising  de- 
partment, 69 ;  On  distribution  and 
demand.     227 

Ingesoll,  Robert  H.,  Brotbers, 

Marketing   organiation,    74;    Counter 
display.    213 

Ivory   Soap,  Advertising  of,    196 


Jobber  Advertising, 

Development  of.   286 ;   Jobber's  gain, 
288;  Media  for,  288 

Kellogg,  W.  K.,  Store  display,  214 
Ladies'  Home  Journal.  151 

Advertising   policy,    164;    Advertisers 
in.   208 

Letters,     As    an     advertising    medium, 

115 
Letters   and  Direct  Advertising,    166- 

180 


McMillan,    Myron,    Advertising   experi- 
ence, 11 

Magazines, 

As  an  advertising  medium,  122; 
Sales  on  stands  and  by  subscrith 
tions,  159;  Use  of,  200 

Mail  Campaigns,  Advantages  of,  166 

Twrj^fUnj  Lists, 

Compiling,  169;  Correcting,  172; 
Keeping  up  to  date,  173 ;  Filing, 
174;    Raking.    175;    Testing,    176 

Mail-Order  Campaigns,  253-267 

Three  general  kinds,  253 :  Specialty 
advertising,  255;  Transportation 
co6ts  affect,  256;  Style  centers  in- 
fluence, 257;  Costs,  258;  Recorda 
used  in  choosing  media.  259;  Dif- 
ficulties of  specialty  sales,  260; 
Distribution  thru  mail  sales,  262 ; 
Department  store  catalogs,  264; 
General  distributors,  265;  Failures 
exceed  successes.   266 

Mail-Ordar  Advertising, 

Records,  34;  Costs  per  inquiry  and 
sale.  4 1 

Mapes,  Emery,   144 

Morris,  William  B.,  On  advertising,  71 

Moving  Picture  Films, 

As   an   advertising   medium,    131 


Karnes  and  Trade  Marks. 

As  nii'iins  of   identificution,   58 
Kational  Biscuit  Company,   Store   Dis 

play,   214 
National  Veneer   Producta  Company, 

Advertising    Department  methods,    77 
New  Orleans.  City  advertising.  280 
New  York  Tribune,  Advertising  policy, 

163 
Newspapers, 

As  an  advertising  medium,   121;  Ua« 
of.   194 


326 


INDEX 


Northam   Fine  Association,    Consumer 

advertising,  250 
Novelties, 

As  an  advertising  medium,  119 


Occident  Flour,   35 


Fackages, 

Means  of  identification,  53 
Fainted  Bulletins, 

As  an  advertising  medium,  128 ;  Use 
of,  220 

Falmer,  V.  B.,  established  first  agency, 
88 

Fearline,   History  of,    10 

Feriodicals,  How  used,  194-210 

Foremost  medium,  194 ;  Volume  of 
newspaper  advertisements,  194 ; 
Local  retail,  195 ;  Classified  ad- 
vertisements, 195 ;  How  manufac- 
turers use  newspapers,  196 ; 
Standard  space,  197 ;  Magazine, 
national  medium,  200 ;  Farm  jour- 
nals, 202 ;  Trade  techncal  and 
class  publications,  204;  Foreign 
language  publications,  206  Direc- 
tories, 207;  S'-?e  of  space,  207; 
Tabulation  of  duration  and  size  of 
space,  208 

Fosters, 

As  an  advertising  medium,  127;  Use 
of,   129 

Frestige,  Weighing,  153-165 

Meaning,  153 ;  Direct  media,  153 ; 
Signs,  154;  How  prestige  works, 
155;  Factors  in,  156;  Editorial 
policy,  157;  Circulation  policy, 
158 ;  Sales  and  subscription  mag- 
azines, 159 :  Advertising  policy, 
160;   Typical  policies,    162 

Frocter  and  Gamble  Company, 

Advertising  methods,  9 ;  Introduce 
Crisco.   232 

Fublic  Sentiment  Campaigns,  268-285 
New  use  of  advertising,  268 ;  Free 
publicity  declining,  268 :  Political 
advertising,  270;  Advertising  for 
fair  play,  272 ;  To  win  strikes, 
273;  For  general  good-will,  274; 
Cooperation  public  sentiment  cam- 
paigns, 275 ;  Advertising  a  charity, 
275;  Advertising  an  industry,  276; 
A  city,  278;  A  state,  281;  National 
needs,  283 ;  Modern  national  ad- 
vertising,  284 

Fullman   Company,    Good-will   advertis- 
ing, 274 

Furpose  of  Campaigns,  1-17 

Significance      and      development,      1 ; 


Purpose  of  Campaigns — continued 

Objects,  2;  Time,  4;  Effect  on 
advertiser,  5 ;  On  salesmen,  7 ; 
On  dealers,  8 ;  On  consumer,  9 ; 
On  product,  10 ;  Educational  re- 
sults, 12 ;  Advertising  and  selling 
expense,  13 ;  Cutting  manufactur- 
er's costs,  15 ;  Cutting  retailer's 
costs,  15 ;  Experience,  best  guide, 
17 


Bates, 

For   periodical   advertising,   low   com- 
puted,   150 
Bepetition,  Effect  cumulative,   313 
Betailers'  Advertising, 

What  it  is,  289 :  Policy  needed,  290 ; 
Poor  copy,  291;  Good  copy,  292; 
Types  of  retail  advertising,  293 ; 
Small  stores,  294 ;  Choice  of  media, 
294;  Chain  stores,  295;  Depart- 
ment stores,  297 
Betail  Dealers, 

Advertising  appropriations,  46 
Bowell,  George  F., 

Prominent    early    advertising    agent, 
89 ;  Secures  correct  information  on 
circulation,   144 
Boyal  Baking  Fowder, 

Value  of   name,    52 
Bussell-MUler    Milling    Company,    Ad- 
vertising experience,   35 


Sales  Department, 

Cooperation   with   advertising  depart- 
ment, 79 

Salesmen, 

Must  be  "sold"  on  advertising,  7,  306 

Sampling, 

As  an  advertising  medium,   116. 

Sampling,    181-193 

Extent  and  classes  of,  181 ;  Distribu- 
tion    thru     other     manufacturers 
182  ;  House-to-house  methods,  182 
Public  plans  and  conventions,  183 
Demonstrating  in  consumers'  homes, 
184 ;     In     clubs    and    restaurants, 
185 ;      Influential      groups,       185 
Mail  methods.    186 ;    Use  of  premi 
urns,     187;     Thru     dealers,     187 
Coupon  plan.   188 ;   Including  with 
purchase,      189 ;      Demonstrations, 
190;   Compensating  dealers.   191 

Saturday    Evening    Fost,     Advertising 
policy.    164 

Scott,   Walter  Dill,        Investigations    in 
advertising,   208 

Sherwin-Williams,    Advertising    outlay, 
45 


INDEX 


327 


Signs, 

Dealera.  127;  Poateri,  127;  Painted, 
128:  Electric,   129;   Railway.  130; 
Theater,  131;   Prestige  of,  154 
Signs,    Use   of.    211-224 

Window  trims,  211;  National  sales 
displays,  212;  Counter  display, 
213  ;  Inducing  dealers  to  use,  214  ; 
Charles  Holzhauer  on  counter  dis- 
play, 215;  Fields  for  profitable 
display.  216;  Cooperation  in  pur- 
chasing signs,  217;  Posters,  219; 
Painted  signs,  220;  Street  car 
cards,    221;     Commercial    parades, 

Sims  Cereal  Company,  198 

Slogans, 

l\('(|uire[nents    of.    62 

Southern     Cypress    Association,     Con- 
sumer  advertising,    250 

S.    S.    Kresge    Company,    Advertising, 
201 

Street-Car  Cards, 

As  an  advertising  medium,  130 ;  Use 
of.   221 

Swoboda,  Alois  P.,  Selling  by  mail,  225 

Technical  Pabllcations, 

As  an    Advertising   medium,    134;    Use 

of,  2m 
Theater  Programs,  12'i 
Trade  Pablicationi, 

Ab  an  advertiBing  medium,  124;  Usd 
of,  204 


Trader,  Campaign  of,  289-800 

Classes  of  distributors,  286 ;  Develop- 
ment of  jobber  advertising,  286; 
Jobber's  gain  thru  advertising, 
288;  Media  for  the  jobber,  288; 
Retailers'  advertising,  289;  Mean- 
ing of  advertising.  289 ;  Advertis- 
ing policy,  290 ;  What  makes  poor 
copy,  291 ;  What  makes  good  copy, 
292 ;  Types  of  retail  advertising, 
293;  Small  store  advertising,  294; 
Choice  of  media,  294;  Chain  store 
advertising,  295 ;  Featuring  of 
price,  296;  Advertising  methods, 
296;  Department  store  advertis- 
ing, 297 ;  Choice  of  media  for, 
297;  Methods  of  appeal  in,  298 

Typical   Character, 
In  advertisements.  60 

Typography, 

Used  to  identify  advertisements,  63 

Wanamaker,   John,   Advertising  outlay, 

43 
Waste,   in   advertising,   5 
Way  Sagless  Spring  Company, 

Advertising    and    sales,    37 ;    Use    of 

posters.  220 
Wrigley,   Wm.   Jr., 

Advertising   ouUay,    40,    43;    Careful 

preparation  for  advertising,  232 
Window  Trims,  211 

Y»l»  ft  Town*.  Displaya,  312 


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NEW      Y  O  B  K 


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